Leadership

While at FIU, I was able to join various student organizations. During 2020-2021 I was honored to serve as the Secretary for Sigma Phi Alpha, a Criminal Justice honor society. I expanded my skills and networking during that time. In the following year, 2021-2022, I served as student organization President. The 2021-2022 academic year presented various opportunities. As an organization, we participated in Relay for Life at FIU and raised almost $5,000 for the American Cancer Society. I also had the amazing opportunity to represent our chapter at the Alpha Phi Sigma National Criminal Justice Honor Society 2022 Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Internships

Hacking for Defense (H4D) is a collaboration between the Department of Defense, the Intelligence Community, and various universities. During my time at H4D, the Jacksonville Naval Airbase presented my team, consisting of other FIU students, with a problem involving pilot engagement and hypoxia alertness. During this semester-long internship, my team interviewed individuals with expertise in hypoxia training. We developed five tactics and gathered results for our final briefing. At the end of our semester, we had the opportunity to brief our sponsors, mentors, and the staff at H4D.

My first internship at FIU was with the Centers for Children and Families at their Summer Treatment Program (STP). STP provides ADHD behavioral treatment in a classroom setting, preparing children for the new school year. During my time at the Summer Treatment Program, I worked as a camp counselor with children in the control classrooms and collaborated with children and their counselors who belonged to the treatment classrooms. STP allowed me to participate in a research project and learn how helpful behavioral treatment is for children with ADHD and other learning and emotional challenges.

Tuesday Times Roundtable

Tuesday Time Roundtables (TTR) presents an excellent opportunity for students, staff, and professionals to join in a discussion about topics that affect our community and environment. During Transgender Awareness Week TTR, Unity Coalition discussed ongoing social and political issues involving transgender and LGBTQ+ individuals. During this discussion, we were informed about the various ways we can support the LGBTQ+ community and how we can support transgender individuals.

Global Learning Courses

As an FIU student, I had a fantastic experience with my courses. Completing my Global Learning courses, I took CJE 3444 Security and Crime Science and DSC 4012 Terrorism and Homeland Security.

Security and Crime Science

Security and Crime Science focused on the social and legislative approaches to prevent crime and delinquency. During this class, my professor focused on several discussions tying different criminal justice theories, such as the broken windows theory, to real-world problems. We examined other regions of the world and their approaches to crime and delinquency prevention. We also read and discussed various journal articles discussing criminal justice theories and applying them to different communities.

Terrorism and Homeland Security

Terrorism and Homeland Security was one of my favorite classes. Terrorism and Homeland Security focused on global terrorism and how it expands worldwide. In this class, we had various discussions on the multiple definitions of terrorism and the context behind the descriptions. We also examined different regions worldwide and how terrorism affects their social environment. We discussed other terrorist and their histories, such as the Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) and the Islamic State. For our final project, we wrote an analytical paper about the United States's success in neutralizing Al Qaeda by removing Bin Laden.