My interest in Criminal Justice is personal for a few different reasons. As a Black woman, I believe there is a need for more women of color represented in the criminal justice field, and I would like to be part of that representation. I\u2019ve also had my own encounters with law enforcement where I remember feeling confused and afraid because I didn\u2019t fully understand what was happening or what my rights were. Those experiences actually pushed me to want to learn more about the law and the criminal justice system so that I can understand my rights, know the difference between what is right and wrong, and feel more informed rather than afraid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the same time, I genuinely find the study of law and crime interesting. There is so much history behind our criminal justice system, and the more I learn, the more interested I become in understanding why the system works the way it does and how it can continue to improve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My experience with SIUE\u2019s codes program has also allowed me to see the importance of listening to people and understanding the issues affecting their communities. Working with HeartLands, researching in the Cahokia Public Library, and speaking with Cahokia residents showed me that Criminal Justice is not just about laws and policies it\u2019s also about people, trust, and the communities being served.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m still exploring exactly where I want to take my career, but I know that I want to use what I\u2019m learning to help people, continue growing professionally, and hopefully contribute to a criminal justice system where people feel informed, respected, and heard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My interest in Criminal Justice is personal for a few different reasons. As a Black woman, I believe there is a need for more women of color represented in the criminal justice field, and I would like to be part of that representation. I\u2019ve also had my own encounters with law enforcement where I remember…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":198,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_sb_is_suggestion_mode":false,"_sb_show_suggestion_boards":false,"_sb_show_comment_boards":false,"_sb_suggestion_history":"","_sb_update_block_changes":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-659","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eportfolio.siue.edu\/jada-parker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eportfolio.siue.edu\/jada-parker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eportfolio.siue.edu\/jada-parker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eportfolio.siue.edu\/jada-parker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/198"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eportfolio.siue.edu\/jada-parker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=659"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eportfolio.siue.edu\/jada-parker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":661,"href":"https:\/\/eportfolio.siue.edu\/jada-parker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/659\/revisions\/661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eportfolio.siue.edu\/jada-parker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}