At the LEAP Center, we believe in collaboration, so it was a pleasure to work with the Department of Criminal Justice and ELITE to provide more information about campus-wide resources and opportunities. ELITE and the Criminal Justice Department hosted this event, with ELITE students who are Criminal Justice majors as the target audience.
The agenda was aggressive and impressive, with presentations by Dean Lyons, Dr. Greg Fremin (on Criminal Justice internships), Jamaal Payne (Sam Center), Dr. Lin Reng (CJ Graduate Director), Doris Pratt (CJ Graduate Advisor), various professors, and Chris Cruz, a special agent, who is also a CJ and ELITE alumnus. The LEAP Center entered this mix for a brief overview of who we are and what we do.
On hand to hear from these speakers were about 15 ELITE members, a mix of freshmen, sophomores and juniors, and the grizzled veterans: the seniors. Director Hernandez and Mr. Cantu did a great job with Dr. Bill Wells (CJ Chair) of facilitating discussion. Moreover, the veteran ELITE members offered advice to the younger members. The advice was good, and one piece will stick with us: “graduate with no regrets.”
Of course, when it was our turn to present we offered advice, too. Mario spoke first, discussing his time in the Marines, returning to the University, and the different experiences he has had that he finds rewarding.
Yvette, who has been an Ambassador for a longer time, relished in discussing her trips with LEAP, her academic endeavors with LEAP, and the importance of taking and cultivating opportunities–with an emphasis on thank-you notes.
Such opportunities not only (we hope) help ELITE students know of resources across campus, but also help different offices learn from each other through the process of collaboration, and lay the ground work for future partnerships. We were happy to be part of that process, and we wish the ELITE students all the best in pursuing their dreams!
The LEAP Ambassadors would like to thank Dr. Wells, Director Hernandez, and Mr. Cantu for allowing us to speak during this program.
