Thank You

Dear Susan,

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to be part of ACJC staff. I really enjoyed working with you and the other staff. I am very grateful for taking the time to sit down and talk to me when I needed someone to talk and when I felt alone. You were like a mom to me during my pregnancy, when I was so far away from my own family. You always reassure me that everything was going to be ok. But one thing that really stood out to me was on our last meeting, where you told me I have to leave my shy and innocent attitude aside. You gave me the perspective of a human resource person and that is something I will always remember and take with me when furthering my career. Thank you for being so supportive.

Sincerely,
Sacha Ten

Career Service

I meet with Maryjo to revise my resume and she made some very important changes. I felt very confident with the changes she made. I was impress because it takes a lot to make a resume stand out. I will recommend any student to go schedule an appointment with her to have their resume review. At first I was a little hesitant because I still keep in contact with the career center at the previous college I attended. They were helpful, but Maryjo really told me what recruiters are looking for in the federal, state or city careers.

Most important

The most important thing that I wanted to get out this internship was what is a commission and what they do. I got a little feel of what is it that they do but not so much what they are. I was a little disappointed because I thought I was going to be dealing with criminal records and information. But the internship itself was base in the satistic department. My internship consisted of looking at numbers and data. I did not meet my initial goal because it wasn't what I expected. But I did learn a few other things and computer software that can benefit me in the future.

Free Write

Thanksgiving was amazing. That was a much needed mini break. Now is finals week and I am not looking forward to that at all. My last week at my internship is also approaching, it's a bitter sweet feeling. I got to know many new people and saw a different part of the government system. From my experience working as a page at the House of Representative, this was a very different transition. Working at the House, it was more active and a lot of moving around. Where at ACJC it was more working in your cubicle and working on a deadline. I enjoyed my time at ACJC, I will definitely keep in touch with the staff because they open my eyes to what I really want to do. And sitting behind a desk in a cubicle is not how I see my careers going, unless it's a managerial position or higher.

Free Write

Thanksgiving is right around the corner :) very excited to see my family and eat. YUMMY. Most of my professor decided to give out test and paper to be due the day before Thanksgiving. I don't know why they would do such a thing, knowing many students fly home for the holidays. But it has to get done because once I come back from thanksgiving break its hell week meaning FINAL WEEKS. I am so not looking forward to that. But I am excited to end my semester and move back home with my family.

Strengths

The organization has a lot of strengths. The organization has a very small staff and they all manage to get their work done on time. Everybody works together and help each other out. Whether is proofreading something or attending someone presentation for moral support. The only thing I will change is to hire a few more staffs, which by the way the organization is working on at the moment. Many people started their career at ACJC and have moved up to Federal or other state agencies. Beside the organization working on getting new members to add I will not change anything, they have been very successful.

Public Service

My organization demonstrate public service by holding commission meetings every Thursday morning. Where every commission of every department would get together and talk about their concerns and the concerns of the people in their community. The organization does a great job at addressing the people concerns and listening to what everybody has to say. The organization also has staff meeting every Tuesday morning, which is a good way for the staff to know what is going on with the other departments, sometimes the staff may be working on the same project and are not aware. That is why these staff meeting are very helpful.

Free Write

Eager waiting for the holidays to come along and ready for some good home cook meal. Just a few more days until I'm in a plane ready to get back to the East Coast. Can the days go by any faster. After being away from my family for my entire college career, I'm starting to feel a little home sick. Which normally happens your freshmen year, but not I. I get it during my senior years when I'm at the peak of my careers. I find it weird myself. But I am guessing that since I'm going to be a mommy, I want to be around family. Waiting patiently for the time to go home but as of now I'm trying to stay focus and finish strong.

Free Write

My pregnancy has been going smoothly, not so much morning sickness. For the first time I felt my baby move round :) not so much kick yet but moving around when I lay down. It gets uncomfortable at times because the baby decides to move the most when I'm trying to get rest. But that is something I have to get use to for when the baby really gets here. No more sleeping in late, more staying up late and waking up early. I am not a morning person so I'm excited to see how this is going to play out, just hoping for the best.

Free Write

During this week the commission decided to take us on a field trip to the Crime lab in Arizona. It was a different experience and I got to witness many things. The rooms were set up similar to CSI; PRETTY COOL. I was impress because the media like to portray a fancy to people. Although the room layouts were similar, the way you get the information for any investigation does not come that easy like CSI makes it seem. They have evidence that will take up hours, days, weeks and even months. What really stood out to me was when we were taken to a lab where they examine handwriting, money and anything that has to do with writing or a victim or suspect. We saw how a five dollar bill was wash and printed as a twenty dollars bill. That was very impressive how people take the time to do such act.

For future reference I now know where to look to determine where a bill is fake or not or if the bill has been washed.

Interview

 What are the main responsibilities of your job?

Manage the day-to-day operations of a criminal justice grant program and to make policy recommendations on criminal justice related issues.

 

2.      What type of education training is needed for your position?

A bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, public administration or business administration and it is preferred to have a master’s degree in any of these disciplines.  Basically, having good management skills and an analytical thought process is a necessity.

 

3.      What advise would you give someone who is interested in this field?

Maximize what you learn in school. Learn not only the subject matter, but learn how to critically think.  Most of all, develop good judgment.  There are many people that are smart but not nearly enough that have good judgment.

 

4.      Do you notice new trends in this field?

We seem to be moving towards a level of acceptance to using illicit drugs.  The current trend is legalizing marijuana but this could easily move into other more destructive drugs.  Policy makers are not spending enough time looking at the data on how drugs affect communities (e.g. how many people are seeking treatment at ER’s, how many people are dying due to drug use, how many people are seeking substance abuse treatment), or if we will really save government resources through legalization or just shift resources (e.g. move the burden from the criminal justice system to the health care system).

 

At the same time, I see the federal government placing greater emphasis on agencies granted federal money to use empirically based processes or programs.  So they are asking us to use data more during decision making and to follow processes or programs that have been supported through some research-based analysis.

 

5.      Why are you interested in this career or position?

I enjoy policy analysis and making a difference in our state.

The reason I decided to interview Tony Vidale was because he works for the Gang, Drug and Violence Dept of the commission and for my future career I want to be a Federal Agent, whether it is with the FBI or DEA.

Leadership

Arizona Criminal Justice Commision is a small agency. Everybody plays an important role in the agency. What I have noticed while interning at the agency is that the people you think are least doing something are the one looking over everybody. Those people play an important role because they are the one who have to look over any projects or assignment that are being done in the agency before they go out to the public and Legislator. Leadership plays an important role in my internship by everyone working together to get the job done and meet deadlines. My co-workers and supervisor display leadership capabilities by teaching each other new software and new ways to get the job done. They help each other out and communicate with one another. Many of the people that work in the agency are barely in their office because they have meetings to attend, going to visit different towns to make sure the grant they received are used correctly or even attending committe meetings. Everybody is treated equally and no one is bossing any one around. But you can know who is at top of the agency and who is working for who.

Free Write

It really does feel good to be back in the office. Nothing has change, I was glad I didn't miss any new assignment when I was gone. I found out this week that one of my supervisor is leaving and accepting a new job offer. This really sucks because he was very helpful and understanding. He will truly be missed. Since I've been back in the office all I've been doing is check out the data for their new website that they will be launching. It gets boring looking at numbers all the time, I had times where I asked myself, what am I getting out of this? And how is this helping me in the long run? But, I patiently do my assignments and try to find the purpose of it and how it would benefit me. Hopefully, it's sooner because it's been three weeks of me looking at numbers and not doing anything of my interest. It gets frustrating at times but I will find the meaning of it all.

Free Write

Another week has pass and I'm still feeling the same. I can barely make it to class, having a 7:30am class and traveling to downtown Phoenix not fun at all. But I manage to make it to class but when it hits 10:30am my body shuts down and just want to be in bed. I am very worry because I don't know how I am going to make it through the semester and these sickness. Hopefully I would start feeling better and finish my semester strong.

Free Write

After I made my 2 months mark, I have not been feeling to go. This is when I started to witness morning sickness. I had it so bad that it kept me from attending my internship. My body felt very tired and it was telling me to calm down and get some rest. It was a lot for me, taking 19 credits hour, 15 hours at my internship and working part time. Yea, I was tired and overwhelmed. But my body gave me a sign to rest on top of the morning sickness. I am very grateful of the staff at my internship because they are understanding of my situation and are willing to work with me. 

Thank you for being so understanding. 

Career Service

I did not attend any career events. But what I can say about the career services is that the staff are very helpful and friendly. What I really enjoy is that everybody is willing to help and they all want their students to achieved their dreams. The career center also sends out daily email reminding students about events, job opportunities and workshop that may be going on campus and in Phoenix. The careers center does a very good job at getting the students inform about what is going on in the community. Many students may find it annoying because you would get about three emails a day but they are very helpful with important information that the students should really read. The career center good source is bringing in alumni to give speech. This is very good because many students fear is entering the real workforce and hearing the stories of other students who were dealing with the same fear, puts students at ease and reassuring them that its going to be fine.  

What's New....

As I mentioned in my previous blog, I recently found out I am having a baby. Well, I made two months this week YAY!! I finally got to see my little peanut and herd the heartbeat for the very first time. That was a very exciting moment, only thing missing were my parents and of course my boyfriend. I got very emotional because I wanted my parents to experience that with me. At first everything felt surreal and I really couldn't believe I was going to be a mom, but when I heard my baby heartbeat everything felt real and I fell in love. That was the best week ever.

Typical Day

A typical day for me at my internship is the following:

1. greet everyone and let my supervisor I have arrived.
2. Check my email for any messages from the department I am working with.
3. Take a trip to the person in charge of the project and ask if there is anything for me to.
(Everyday is a different task, unless I did not finish my task the day before)
4. Work on the assigned task.
5. Take my 30 mins lunch break
(which I usually take the time to call my parents and see how they are doing)
6. Continue working on my task until is time for me to leave.

Pretty simple and straight forward.

Week 3

After getting the big news of me being pregnant my body has been going through a lot of changes. I get tired more quickly. So, sitting in front of a computer for a few hours is not my ideal day. My back starts hurting, my eyes are beginning to hurt because of looking at small numbers. It has been very rough and I was not prepare for that. But, lucky the people at ACJC are very supportive and checked on me all the time making sure I felt comfortable. 15 hours a week of staring at numbers is really tough and all I wanted to do was to be in bed. But I made it through the week and I learned and read some very interesting cases that was better than Law and Order SVU.  

Week 2

My second week of the internship was a bit challenging, I found out I was 5 weeks pregnant. I did not know how to react to the big news. I felt overwhelm because I am so far away from home, my parents and especially my boyfriend. He was not so thrill about the news at first, it took him a few days to accept the fact we were going to be parents at such a young age. This pregnancy really changed a few things for me. Most and formal I won't be able to walk for graduation because I will be home giving birth, this really bothers me a lot because this is my first bachelor degree and the first in my family to graduate. I will also not get the opportunity to intern at the Scottsdale Police Department as a Crime Analysis, that particular internship would have been something that I really wanted to know more about and is more hands on with the police department. But besides the bad timing, I am grateful I get to experience motherhood and with the love and support of my family everything will be fine and I will get to accomplish many more things when I get back to the Big Apple. My parents and family are very happy to have a new member added to the family, which makes me want to enjoy even more every single day of my pregnancy. This pregnancy is not a step back but a motivation to achieve many more things in life with my new born child.

Arizona Criminal Justice Commission

ACJC (like they call it) is a small agency of approximately 19 members who represent different elements in the criminal justice in Arizona, who work for different government agencies. For example, DEA, Federal government etc. Their main goal is to administer and manage Criminal Justice program in Arizona. Some members work for the drug and violence department, statical analysis, and Federal. ACJC was created in 1982 to serve as resource for the state. ACJC purpose is to provide criminal information, monitor and continuing legislation base on criminal justice, also gathering information and researching criminal justice programs. Making sure the funding that are provided to the programs are getting the work done in creating a safer Arizona.

My job as an intern is to revise annual reports that are brought in by each county, checking the data base on the arrest record and drug related arrest. Comparing the information from last year, what they call EDGE Report, to notice any significant difference in numbers. I am working with the Drug and Violence Department of ACJC.

http://www.azcjc.gov/ACJC.Web/about/overview.aspx
*ACJC website for more information.

Introduction

Hello,

My name is Sacha Ten, I am a senior at Arizona State University. I am originally from Manhattan, NY. My major is Public Service, Public Policy with a concentration in criminology. I was a Business major back at my old school, but decided to transfer to ASU to further my education with my friend/ roommate. I have enjoyed the time I have spent in Arizona. I decided to change my major because I found out business was not what I wanted to do and I did not see myself in that career, it wasn't the one. Its like when you go buy your wedding dress you get that "special feeling" and you know that's the one, Yeah, I didn't have that feeling in business. I wanted to do something more hands on and that involved me making a change.

My three Goals:

• To better know the criminal justice system and what how they help the public.
• Get a better understanding of the purpose of the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission department.
• To see if this the path I will like to continue in criminology or take a different approach.