Graduation Plans: Criminal Justice, Creative Writing, & Becoming a Librarian

What would a Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice, a Master’s in Creative Writing, and a Master’s in Library Science lead to?

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Disclaimer: This essay was written for a scholarship I applied to that will be announced in mid-July. Let’s hope that what I submitted is good! Enjoy!

After graduation, my plans are to dive into a criminal justice career, preferably working for the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) as an intelligence analyst. I hope to study organized crime and put a stop to gangs in my community and throughout the United States. I’ve always been fascinated by organized crime documentaries, and the various ways that law enforcement has crippled these infamous empires. Learning about how the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act was made is one of the best criminal justice stories I’ve ever heard.

I want to be able to say that my reports contributed to this constant fight for justice and peace, and ultimately put dangerous people behind bars.

This will answer to my bachelor’s in criminal justice, but I’ll also be pursuing a master’s in creative writing and a master’s in library sciences. My ultimate goal is to write novels that are pro-mental health. I want my books to have a legacy that carries on for generations and helps others to understand their inner self. My novels will carry hidden messages that show how the inner self needs to be stable in order for the rest of the person’s world to make sense. I want to promote mental health awareness by making my characters the heroes of their inner child, where their traumas are addressed, explained, and accepted. My personal brand will be one of loving one’s self and allowing one to dive deep into themselves in order to both understand and accept themselves for who they are. Knowledge is power, and that power can make it easier for my readers to learn how to be their most authentic selves in society. My novels will impact society by challenging the idea that we need to suppress out traumas and negative emotions in order to move ahead in life. I will show readers that processing their emotions and searching for psychological answers behind their conditions will ultimately lead to relief in understanding themselves.

Another reason I chose a bachelor’s in criminal justice rather than creative writing, other than having a stable job as a DEA agent, is because I want to show, through the eyes of a detective, how this mental health angle to my stories runs through everything my characters encounter, even the very fabric of the universe. Writing novels, since I’m an unpublished aspiring author, won’t be a stable income for me until I grow a fanbase with my first few books. Even then, income isn’t guaranteed until my books gain that sincere, large following, which is hard for any author pre-fame. My master’s in creative writing will help ensure that my writing style is perfection, but it can’t guarantee that I’ll get the press coverage and marketing for my novels that I need. The career of a writer isn’t stable, thus the need for the criminal justice bachelor’s degree.

As for my master’s in library science, I hope to retire someday as a librarian. I’ll be able to share a lifelong career as a writer with fans of various book series, as well as a love of research with those searching for answers.

I deserve to win this scholarship because I need to make enough money to support mine and my boyfriend’s dreams. The bachelor’s in criminal justice will not only serve my passion for writing, but also as a stable job with good benefits while I pursue my writing career on the side. My father recently passed from ALS, leaving my mother and I to take care of the bills of the household. We went from upper middle class to barely above poverty level overnight. I had to get a second job part-time, and my mother picked up three part-time jobs just to make ends meet. I want to make enough money to make sure we, including my boyfriend, have enough money to live on and still have a little extra to go on vacation or take a day trip somewhere. I’m hoping my degree in creative writing will give us that little extra on top of the salary I’d get from a criminal justice job. And to ensure that I have enough money in the future, a librarian job would be my retirement plan. It would mean the world to me if I won this scholarship because I’d be able to afford another semester at college.

I’m working a full-time job in retail that barely pays the bills as it is; as a result, I have to take a break from college in order to save enough for classes later. I’d also like to send my boyfriend to college as well, but this just isn’t possible with my current salary. He deserves to be happy in his dream career of being a sportscaster, and I want to provide him the education for it. We want to buy a house together, buy two cats, get married, and maybe even have kids, but none of this is going to be easy with the job I currently have. I do love the job I have right now, as the manager is fantastic and the employees are nothing but kind, but I need that bachelor’s degree to get us in a better spot financially so that all of our dreams can come true.

To be brief, I need the money from this scholarship to take another step forward to making dreams come true. I want to get a better job in criminal justice so that I can support myself, my mom, and my boyfriend so we can finally make it out of poverty. I want to use all three of my future degrees to write books and promote a love of reading while helping people better understand their inner selves.

It’s not a lot of money, but baby steps are still steps forward. It’s one class that I don’t have to pay for. It’s a sum of money that I can save for the next class to continue moving forward towards graduation. In other words, it’s another step towards hope.