Beyond Law and Order

Mentoring program alum and scholarship recipient, Shantel Thompson, has always had an interest in the law, but “studying criminal minds and discovering why they act the way they do,” is what she says is the real reason she decided to pursue a degree in Criminal Justice.

Thompson recently landed an extremely competitive internship with the Federal Probation Office. “They only hire two new interns per semester,” Thompson says. She feels that the international criminal law program she participated in really helped to give her an edge over her competition. Thompson believes that her persistence was also a key factor.

As part of her internship, Thompson is mentored by an on-duty probation officer and receives a combination of field and office training. “We follow an offender from the time they commit the offense through sentencing, treatment and probation,” she says. So far, Thompson has really enjoyed seeing the process in action and feels right at home with her co-workers. “They are easy to talk to,” she says. “From the chief probation officer to the janitor, everyone really makes me feel like I am part of the team.”

Thompson plans to go on to obtain a Master’s degree in Psychology as well as a degree in law. Thompson advises younger students to go after what they love and work hard to get there. “You don’t want to go to a job everyday that you don’t like,” Thompson says. “Do what you want to do, and don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t.”