Matt Cascioli and Keyxe Rodriguez-Soto were the first two students to graduate from PSU-LV’s criminal justice program, 现在已经是第二年了. The students were honored with a small celebration following their 高级研讨会 research presentations.
宾州中央谷. — At 中国博彩平台 (PSU-LV)’s spring commencement this May, 毕业生中将有两名开拓性的学生.
Matt Cascioli of Palmer Township and Keyxe Rodriguez-Soto of Allentown are the first two students to complete the criminal justice program at PSU-LV. The program itself is still new, wrapping up its second year. Both students started their academic careers at PSU-LV in other programs but decided to switch majors.
Rodriguez started as a business major because it was the closest PSU-LV had to a law or criminal justice-focused program at the time. She didn’t hesitate to switch after she spoke with Debra Dreisbach, assistant teaching professor and criminal justice program coordinator at PSU-LV who brings her own 25-plus years of experience in law enforcement and national security to the program.
“我确实喜欢做生意，但后来我遇到了黛比. Her teaching style and everything she said about the program was what I wanted to do,罗德里格斯说. “I’ve had some interesting classes — it’s been different for sure. 它和商科专业不一样. 我喜欢所有的刑事司法课程, and I actually wish I’d had more time to take more classes, 因为我大三的时候换了专业.”
Dreisbach’s goal is to expose the students in the criminal justice program to as many different aspects of the field as she can. 学生观看尸体解剖. 他们参加了法庭听证会. They heard from speakers who work in corrections and different aspects of law enforcement. 去年夏天, Dreisbach took a group of students to Sicily to learn about the birthplace of organized crime.
“There were so many different opportunities for learning both in and out of the classroom,德赖斯巴赫说.
在每一个关键时刻, Dreisbach encourages students to build their professional networks and be open to career possibilities. 研究也是一个重要组成部分. The students presented their culminating research projects from the capstone course, 高级研讨会, on April 23 to an audience of family members and campus supporters.
这个项目超出了Cascioli的预期.
“对于我们这样规模的校园来说, 还有一个新项目, 我在球场上有非常独特的视角,Cascioli说, noting a highlight was attending a presentation by author and psychologist Katherine Ramsland, 谁的研究重点是连环杀手. “Students have the opportunity to learn from experts in the field,Cascioli说. “黛布自己也带来了大量的中国博彩平台和知识, and will always put students in the best position to enhance their learning.”
作为最后一个里程碑, Cascioli received the Distinguished Criminal Justice Graduating Senior Award, an honor given to a criminal justice student with both a high GPA and involvement on campus.
Rodriguez echoed Cascioli’s comments: “For me a highlight was Deb herself. I like how she is very inclusive and brings in speakers from different aspects of the field. We had a speaker from SELF who is a member of the Hispanic community who talked about how she is giving back after being incarcerated.”
她补充说, “尽管我喜欢做生意, criminal justice gave me more of an insight into what I want to do in the future. It’s more inclusive and speaks to what is going on in the world. It also get you out of your comfort zone, which is good if you’re shy like me.”
学生们走上了不同的职业道路. Cascioli will be Discharge Case Manager for Lehigh County Hospital Opiate Support Team, supervised by Mid-Atlantic Rehabilitative Services (MARS) in Fountain Hill, a full-time role that grew out of his internship with the agency; Rodriguez will be starting law school after graduation and will be focusing on criminal and immigration law. She interned with the Lehigh County District Attorney’s office, a position that stemmed from a class visit to watch a courtroom hearing.
“刑事司法有着如此广泛的基础, 你可以用它做任何你想做的事,德赖斯巴赫说. “Here we have two students in the same program, doing completely different things.”
第一届毕业班给德赖斯巴赫留下了深刻的印象.
“两位学生都是这个项目的领导者. There will be a real hole there when they leave," Dreisbach said. "They worked with me all the time, I saw them all the time. 这两个都是这个项目很好的例子.”
