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.