My connection with Security and Risk Analysis is that it is my major at Penn State University. I am also the Intelligence modeling option. I am interested in Security and Risk Analysis because I have a growing interest in security, whether it is physically security such as law enforcement or military or it could even be cyber security such as protecting a firms assets. I am currently a junior, and have been involved with the major for a year. Originally I was a business major, but it just did not excite me as much as Security Risk Analysis does. This past summer I was an Intern with Somerset County Prosecutors offices. There I worked with the counter terrorism unit, gang unit, intelligence unit, and narcotics unit. While working with the counter terrorism unit, I worked hand-in-hand with the Department of Homeland Security. Although I am not able to discuss the cases that I worked on, I can say that it was a growing experience for me and really sparked my interest. After the internship was done I really got an idea of what I wanted to do with my life. I started to focus more on the federal aspect of law enforcement such as the Federal Bauru of Investigations and the Department of Homeland Security. This is because I really have a passion for stopping terrorism, whether it’s foreign or domestic. Because of this, in May of this year, I plan of shipping out to Officer Candidate school for the United States Marine Corps. This will be two, six week sessions on the Marine Corps base in Quantico Virginia. I will be doing my first session this summer, and my second session right after I graduate. I hope to get my orders in the infantry unit or in the mortars unit. There I will be leading my team of men into battle and training them to be the best Marines they can be. I believe that this will give me an advantage when I get out into the work force. This is because a lot of the departments that I will be applying to really like to see a military background on your resume. Especially if they see that you were an officer.
I chose to take this Crisis Informatics class because It had a lot to do with what I did over the summer. When I was not working at the prosecutor’s officer, I worked for the county’s Office of Emergency Management. There, I worked with the county coordinator in efforts to maximize the potential of the emergency plans. We analyzed the plans that were already in place, and looked to see how we can improve them and get the most out of the assets that we have. I believe this class will give me more of an understanding as to why we did the things that we did.
