“I think that you should pick Hastings if you know that you want to stick out. You don’t just want blend in and you want to be more than just a number to your professors,” said Watson, who is from Franklin, Tennessee.

Before coming to Hastings, Birk, who is from Bennington, Nebraska, knew she wanted to do something in psychology, but she didn鈥檛 want to be a psychologist.

鈥淭he show 鈥楥riminal Minds鈥� really interested me. Then I realized I could use psychology outside of just the typical avenues,鈥� Birk said. That鈥檚 what led her to criminology.

Now she majors in both psychology and criminology, but she wanted to find ways to combine the two, and realized a career in crime investigation did just that.

鈥淵ou can use people’s thought processes and minds to understand why certain crimes are committed or who committed those crimes. I think that’s really interesting,鈥� Birk said.

In January Birk started looking into internships at local police departments to prepare for her summer criminology capstone class. Then in March, she got serious about applying with the help of Career Services and her internship advisor, Dr. Laura Logan, associate professor of sociology. Birk looked at the Hastings and Omaha police departments, but settled on an internship with the Douglas County Sheriff鈥檚 Office for the month of June. Douglas County, which is home to Omaha and some of its suburbs, is Nebraska鈥檚 most populated county.

During her internship at the sheriff鈥檚 office, Birk did a little bit of everything. She worked the front desk and helped the community members who came in, did a couple ride-alongs and helped set up courses for officer driving training. But her favorite part was getting to work with some of the crime investigators.

鈥淚 was able to see what their job was and I was able to read through a couple of their cases,鈥� Birk said. 鈥淭hey were all really nice and helpful with telling me what goes on in the department. I feel like I got an insider鈥檚 experience.鈥�

Getting to work with the crime investigators gave Birk insight into what they do 鈥� and how to become one. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e just shown me more of how to get into this career, which are things that I didn鈥檛 know beforehand,鈥� Birk said. Now she knows she鈥檒l have to be a deputy and may be on the road for a couple of years before she can become an investigator.

She also saw there are choices for a career that combine her passions, and her internship has helped her narrow those choices down.

鈥淚 used to think, this is your degree, this is the job you have to get. Now I have a better understanding of all the options that are available to me,鈥� Birk said.

By Ally Banks, a junior English major from Shawnee, Kansas

Thinking she wouldn’t be able to attend college, one call from an admissions counselor changed everything for Socorro Topete of South Sioux City, Nebraska.

Despite the challenges, Topete was able to attend her first choice, 香蕉视频, and she is grateful the school took a chance on her.

Knight鈥檚 research focuses on providing a criminological perspective on the issue of phishing scams that seek to extract money, passwords and other personal information from internet users under false pretenses.

The sociology and psychology graduate is focusing her dissertation on the intersections of religion, technology and crime by exploring how technology mediates revelations of sexual abuse within religious institutions and its role in the tracking of perpetrator movements.

Before attending graduate school, she served two years as an AmeriCorps member for United Way and Court Appointed Special Advocates for children (CASA). Knight worked to improve volunteer recruitment and retention and connected young people with opportunities for community service and skill development within the community.

She said 香蕉视频 prepared her for the future in many ways. She came to graduate school ready to read and critique academic journal articles, allowing her to work more efficiently and rigorously.

鈥溝憬妒悠� professors provided me with opportunities to create research projects and present my work. These experiences helped me communicate my research findings to community members, academics and stakeholders in ways that are meaningful and practical,鈥� she said.

香蕉视频 professors helped Knight gain knowledge, social connections and continue to give her career and life advice. They gave her tools for applying to graduate school and helped her find which school would best serve her needs.

鈥淢y professors continue to be a source of guidance and encouragement for me,鈥� she said.

Knight鈥檚 advice to current students is to seek out opportunities for internships, job shadowing, and service-learning.

鈥淭hese opportunities helped me clarify my career path and provided me with crucial community connections I still rely on today,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here is no substitute for hands-on experience and observation.鈥�

By Hazel Ashton, a sophomore majoring in health systems and psychology and Courtney Hanson, a junior majoring in communication studies and philosophy and religion

Haswell was the first intern in recent history at the Hastings Regional Center, a residential substance abuse treatment center for adolescent males ages 13 to 18. She mainly shadowed coaches and oversaw the admissions process. She also followed the youth and helped them with their homework.

The coaches of the unit鈥檚 purpose are not only to provide security and safety but also to be an outlet for the youth to help them work through their challenges. Haswell oversaw this process and she said she enjoyed seeing the youth learn from their challenges.

One of Haswell鈥檚 favorite experiences at the Regional Center was her last day. The staff played a game of volleyball against the youth, and the team would purposefully miss shots while playing.

鈥淪eeing the smiles on the kid’s faces when we played against them was special. It felt nice to be part of their experience,鈥� she said.

At the District 10 probation office, Haswell鈥檚 experience included various roles, from shadowing departments to looking through past pre-sentencing investigation files. She used skills gained in 香蕉视频 classes to give her best judgment on the files about what she would do. She found that she and the state probation officer she shadowed, Trevor Anderson, had similar views in the decision-making process.

One of Haswell鈥檚 favorite experiences at the probation office was shadowing a probation officer who was visiting with a probationee. The individual tried to lie to the officer, and she did not have time for that.

鈥淪he is very intimidating and is someone you do not want to lie to, and it was eye-opening to see that power dynamic,鈥� she said.

Haswell said she enjoyed learning the different aspects of the job at the probation office and seeing how the systems worked together, which are skills she will need in the future.

Haswell said she wants to be a probation officer in the future but would like to start out working with juvenile treatment facilities, like the Hastings Regional Center.

Haswell said her internship experiences helped her to further expand on theories and concepts she learned in the classroom. For example, she talked about how she saw labeling theory in play at the regional center. The youth would label themselves as being bad and would act out according to that label.

鈥淚t was a good experience to see the concepts I鈥檝e been learning about and apply them to everyday life,鈥� she said.

By Courtney Hanson, a sophomore from Brookings, South Dakota, majoring in communication studies and philosophy.

In dry, mountainous terrain in the middle of New Mexico, a single helicopter descends from the blue and hovers just above ground, sending a cloud of dust skyward.

A handful of black-clad federal agents clutching rifles leap from the chopper and stealthily make their way toward their target. Their mission: serve a federal search warrant on a home packed with explosives.

香蕉视频 alumnus Michael Schmitz 鈥�85 is among the fierce-looking bunch. For this former football player turned teacher turned federal agent, it鈥檚 just another day on the job.

Granted, it was an exciting day.

鈥淚鈥檝e done some pretty cool stuff,鈥� said Mike, recalling the New Mexico helicopter drop and other movie-esque moments in his 25-year career with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Mike has held many positions at ATF, beginning as an agent and now serving as firearms instructor coordinator across a four-state area. He trains and tests both new and existing agents and task force officers on weaponry to keep their certifications current. He also spends time in action as a member of the regional SWAT team based out of Detroit, Mich. 鈥� a chance to get back in the heat of things.

Though Mike always had an interest in criminal justice 鈥� as a child in Grand Island, Neb., he looked up to his state trooper neighbor 鈥� HC only offered one criminology class in the early 鈥�80s. The four year football player opted instead for an edu颅cation degree, hoping to teach and coach.

After a few years teaching, he landed at the University of Kansas to continue his football coaching career. It was there that he met two federal agents who would change the course of his career and his life. The agents 鈥� one who worked for the FBI and the other for the Secret Service 鈥� were regulars at the KU weight room where Mike spent much of his day. Over time, the two convinced Mike to apply for a job as a federal agent.

A few more serendipitous events led him to apply with ATF, and within weeks of taking the entrance exam, the teacher and coach was part of the bureau.

鈥淲ith ATF, they were about diversity,鈥� he said, explaining that while some agents had military or law enforcement backgrounds, others had been journalists, attorneys or other professionals. 鈥淭hey wanted people from all walks of life. If you saw these people, you would never expect them to be federal agents.鈥�

Mike has investigated everything from drug trafficking and firearms offenses to explosive and arson cases. He spent three weeks in Waco, Texas, during the 1993 siege, and worked in Oklahoma City, Okla., after the 1995 bombings. He hunted for Olympic Park Bomber Eric Rudolph in the moun颅tains of North Carolina and helped with search and rescue efforts after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The highlight of his career was a homicide investigation he and a team worked in Missouri in the 鈥�90s. Christine Elkins was a drug user turned ATF informant who went missing in 1990 and was presumed to have been killed by her dealer. Mike and his partner worked the case tirelessly for seven years, until Elkins鈥� body was found in the trunk of a car in the Missouri River in 1997.

鈥淲e convicted two heinous bad guys for it,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ne got 27 years, the other life in prison. That case took a lot out of me at that time.鈥�

The high-profile Kansas City, Mo., case generated a lot of publicity and was the subject of television shows, a book and a feature in Reader鈥檚 Digest.

Any success he has had, he said, he attributes to his 香蕉视频 education.

鈥淚 am always pushing people to look at 香蕉视频,鈥� said Mike, whose daughter, Abby Schmitz, is a sophomore broadcast journalism major at HC. 鈥淚 truly think it鈥檚 a great school. You get the total experience at 香蕉视频.鈥�

He and his wife, Patty (Cox) Schmitz 鈥�86, a second-grade teacher, live in Overland Park, Kan. They also have a son.

By Amy (McGraw) Palser 鈥�99