By Jennifer Wyatt Bourgeois, Faculty Member, Criminal Justive with American Military University
As a child, your teacher might have asked the class, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I remember in my classroom filled with 6 and 7 year olds, my fellow classmates declared with excitement and giddiness, “I want to be an astronaut,” or “I want to be a police officer.” When it was my turn, I stood up, cleared my throat and said with pride, “I want to be a doctor when I grow up.”
Fast forward 25 years, and I’ve ended up pursuing a career in criminal justice. I’ve been a probation officer, Federal Special Agent for the Department of Immigration, a forensic scientist and now, as a Criminal Justice professor, I stand before students (or do so virtually, in an online discussion forum) and ask the same question: “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
I have received responses ranging from blank stares to “I don’t know” to the elaborate response from the student who knows exactly what they want to pursue.
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