Career Goals

Career Interest and the Value of a College Education

Career Interest

Many people do not realize the jeopardy that our youth are in when they are being criminally charged in an adult court system. Our children are being prosecuted for crimes, even as first time offenders, and are sent to adult prison systems. The children who are incarcerated in these prisons face great dangers of being amongst older, larger men and women.

A study that was conducted in 1997 by The MacArthur Foundation, showed that children who are under the age of 15 were not competent enough to stand trial. The incompetence was proven due to under-development of the brain, which contributes to immaturity in the child's neurological development (Steinberg, 2002). This study also proved that young adults as old as 27, still show signs of neurological under-development. These children are ignorant to the legal system and face great fears they can not understand. Also, children who are incarcerated in an adult facility are over fifty times more likely to re-offend, than those who are put through other programs. Furthermore, a fair punishment for an adult accused of a similar offense may not be a fair punishment for a child who can not understand the consequences of their decisions. I am completely convinced that through proper rehabilitation and positive out-look programs, our troubled youth still have a chance to become happy, responsible adults and citizens. I want to make a difference in the lives of our troubled youth as much as possible and help them to a path that will lead them to success. In order to achieve this goal, I must continue on with my education.

Value of a college education

Continuing on with my education will open many doors of opportunity for me; there are also many benefits of earning a college-level degree. Studies have shown that those who have continued on to a higher level of education and earned a bachelors degree, are more likely to earn at least two times their annual salary. That is a great incentive and motivator for me!

There are also several other benefits of a college-level degree. People who have degrees, have a better quality of life. A better quality of life includes better self-confidence, which will lead to greater job satisfaction; less dependency on governmental programs, such as health care, cash assistance, unemployment and so on. You are more likely to have better emotional control, and feel better intellectually, and least but not last, people who have a higher-level of education are more likely to eat better and exercise more; this means physically you will feel better too (Hansen, 1996-2006)!

My ultimate goal is to earn my Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice and work as a paralegal for a law firm that feels as passionately about our pre-trial and incarcerated youth as I do. There will be many obstacles that I will need to learn to overcome