As told by Isaac Smith
My education is everything. Here at UVU, your professors definitely take the time to get to know you and go the extra mile to help you.
Photo by Kennedy Evans
I was studying in Hawaii, and in my second year, fall semester, I did a study abroad trip to Australia for seven months. While I was there, I didn't know where I was gonna go or what I was gonna do, but I had really good housemates that kind of made me realize you're about to spend the rest of your life studying something that you don't truly love and live in a place you don't really want to be. So, they were like, "Just look at going to school on the mainland."
I started looking at schools in Oregon, California, and Utah, and I got into three schools, including UVU. My family had great things to say about UVU and had the programs that I wanted to study. When I came to UVU, I decided to study criminal justice.
This was the first time, aside from the study abroad, that I have ever lived away from home. I have never been landlocked; I have always had the ocean. But UVU was supportive with all the resources, because in my last school, there wasn't any clubs and honors program. So UVU really does make you feel welcome.
I am currently in the Honors Program since I started here, I was a part of UVUSA last year as a department representative, and I am in a honor societies and things on campus. I work on campus so I’m always here. But it's just it's nice to have those opportunities and to kind of push yourself and grow.
My education is everything. I don't really know a life without my school routine. At my last school, the professors didn't take the time to get to know me. But here [at UVU], your professors definitely take the time to get to know you and go the extra mile to help you. And when you reach out to professors, they see that you're taking the time and effort to get help, so they're more likely to help you. Getting to know my professors helps me to succeed in my studies.
I took a homeland security class as an elective, and it was super interesting to learn about homeland security and its complexity. It was something my brain picked up very fast and found very interesting. My homeland security professor, Dr. Eric Russell, has pushed me to go to grad school. He helped me with my applications, undergraduate studies, and even my honors thesis. I'll send him an email and say, "Hey, I need help with this. Can you help me?" He'll respond right away.
He [Dr. Russell] was actually the one that wanted me to look into grad school. I would have never thought about doing it, ever. I'll be the first in my family to get my bachelor's — at least, my immediate family. I think only two other people in my whole family have a bachelor's. So I just wanted my bachelor’s and to go into the field. As I kept looking into it, I was like, “Okay, we're gonna do it [grad school].” And it stressed my mom out a lot, because she wanted me to just do one thing at a time. But I'm gonna go to grad school starting in January next year, at Penn State, and I’m super excited. My graduate studies will be in homeland security and counter-terrorism, so I'm hoping to end up at the FBI at their Counterterrorism Center or working at the Pentagon with the special forces team.
It probably sounds so cheesy, but never give up. Just keep going. Because in my freshman year, I seriously thought about dropping out. I was like, “This is not for me.” But because I had a lot of support, I kind of roughed it out and kept going. If you asked high school me, “Where do you think you're going to be in four or five years?” I definitely would never say, "I'll be in the mainland, graduating soon, and going to do a master's." So keep going. Nothing is impossible. If you want to do something, definitely, do it.
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