Should I continue obtaining CRJ degree?

[jgavlock]

I am currently a freshman at Niagara University and I am studying to obtain my Criminal Justice degree. I finished the first semester with a 3.5 and ended up making the deans list.

During high school I made some extremely bad decisions that I realize are now coming back to haunt me. I experimented with marijuana and other harder drugs, which include cocaine, ecstacy and I tried mushrooms once, which I have read is unfortunately an automatic DQ in most departments. This is truly eating my alive. It is the only regret that I have about my entire life.

I realize now that I may have completely ruined my dream of becoming a law enforcement officer. Since graduating high school I have completely stopped doing any drugs, drinking, and I have even stopped talking to my friends that I made the mistake of associating myself with in high school. I have also started a vigorous workout routine and picked up some hobbies to try to make some new friends and keep myself busy.

I had not chosen a major in college when I had been doing drugs and wish I would have straightened myself out before it got to the point that it did. This career is my passion and I spend much of my time devoting myself to educating myself about the justice system and the various fields that fall under it. I really do not have much interest in many other fields besides that of law enforcement.

Upon graduating college I will have been drug free for just under 5 years, which I realize is not as long as it seems after reading the sticky. My question is should I continue pursuing this career or change my major and go down a different path while I am still a freshman and make the transition easier on myself. Thanks for your guidance, I really appreciate all of your advice.

This is still my passion and if it is possible I will be able to find employment then I am not going to give up on living my dream.

[Citicop]

You will almost certainly have a nearly zero chance of being hired as a police officer due to your prior drug history.

Having said that, there are a lot of things related to the criminal justice system that you could do if you still have a passion and want to be involved.

Probation and parole, corrections, social work, and academic work in the crimnal justice field could all still be open to you in one fashion or another.

Good Luck-

Citicop.

[jakal]

Well I think you are going to have a hard time finding somewhere to take you with those hard drugs that you have tried. But I don't know if it's an automatic DQ everywhere... so I don't know if I would completely abandon the dream.

However, being a criminal justice degree holder myself I would strongly recommend getting a degree in something else. While a criminal justice degree sounds good if you are interested in LE, it really has no practical use besides LE and becoming a LEO does not require you getting a degree in LE. You can get a degree in anything and still become a LEO. I personally went on to get an advance degree because I know that should anything happen in the future, my CJ degree won't do much for me.

Just my two cents, but I would look for another degree field that you are interested in so that you have something to fall back on if LE doesn't work out for you.