Passionate About Making a Change

¶ … passionate about making a change and who can make a change. Terrorism is a growing problem and as person with practical experience in protecting our homeland and with academic training and vocational experience in business administration, I would like to combine the two in order to make a difference in an age that needs it. It is to that end that I see the MS degree in Criminal Justice helping me achieve my personal goals.

The field of Criminal Justice is one of those areas that call for leadership and for presence of mind. Whilst on the one hand, a person involved in Criminal Justice needs to be -- as it were -- from outside the discipline so that he can survey the whole arena of social control and be able to mete and monitor justice in a dispassionate manner, on the other hand the practitioner has to be compassionate and empathic so that he remains fair and compassionate to the individuals who pass through the system. Justice and mercy are in short, the two characteristics that are involved, and very few individuals can adequately mete both of them. I pride myself on being one of those individuals who, through training and experience, can adequately and effectively combine discipline with humility and I hope to learn the techniques of the system so that I can merge skills with training in consciously understanding the nuances of Homeland Security and Emergency Management so that I can better serve my country.

1. Evaluating the typical Criminal Justice syllabus that is offered across the board in various universities I find the subject appealing and within the scope of my comprehension. I see myself as fulfilling all the requirements and, knowing that I am a fast learner, believe that I will be able to rapidly and thoroughly master the subject. This is particularly so since I am motivated and possess tenacity. I see that critical inquiry is involved and believe that I have the analytical capacities to master that. Crime and Justice studies seems to me to be an inter-disciplinary program that draws on a vast range of fields, much of it incorporating that which is already part of my experience such as leadership skills and counseling techniques. Law, crime, and justice are factors of Business too. Discrimination has been a part of my life that I have experienced both theoretically and experientially. In that case, I consider myself prepared for graduate level study in Criminal justice.

2. I intend to investigate the concentration of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. This is so partially due to the fact that I think my experiences and training heretofore are excellently suited for this. As my resume shows, I am an accredited and recognized officer of the Marines who has worked both in Japan and in California and who had attained the Chief Administrative managerial position in the U.S. navy entrusted with training, leading, and evaluating performance of 19 direct reports, as well as coordinating, managing, and providing support for more than 180 personnel. Security is not new to me. I have processed and overseen security matters for more than 100 personnel and have been in charge of safeguarding more than 150 classified material. Involvement in Homeland Security requires a resume that denotes outstanding service to one's country on the applicant's behalf. I have such a resume. I have also resolved complex operational issues and have received numerous awards including 6 Navy Achievement medals, the Defense meritorious service medal, and the Joint Service Achievement medal. All of this (and more) makes me compatible for the discipline. Most politicians -- our greatest civic leaders in fact -- started off with serving their country in army, navy or air. It was this experience that gave them not only the theoretical, pure knowledge but also -- and more importantly - the practical, immediate format. Time in the marines supplied me with the immediate existential knowledge. Business administration has given me the theoretical training. Both together seem to make me a suitable candidate for the concentration of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (Excelsior College. The Master of Science in Criminal Justice)

3. As far as I understand it and as far I have heard form colleagues, online study involves tremendous self-discipline and motivation for one's work.

My resume will show you that I have both. The self-discipline helped me excel in the marines where I was consistently promoted for outstanding performance and steadily progressed within the U.S. navy to attain Chief Administrative manager position. This trait of self-discipline and tenacity also helped me excel in my business life where I was able to perform multiple responsibilities simultaneously and under heavy pressure consistently meeting deadlines whilst providing high quality service.

As regards motivation, I would not be applying for this course if I were not motivated. Whilst not having studied as online student in the past, I have taken many classes and in fact have attained both my Bachelors of Science and Associate of Arts from Excelsior College in Studies.

It seems to me that academic studies, regardless of whether they are conducted on or off line, necessitate diligence, conscientiousness, knowledge of time management, and tenacity. I have those skills and capabilities and therefore think myself capable of taking its online study course.