Prompt #5 Organizations

By Samantha Martinez

I have not involved myself in any criminal organizations just yet. Next year, I hope that I do become more involved because I will be wanting to explore more about my career.  Luckily, my friend Chelsea Agee is in the criminal justice field and has been involved with two important criminal justice organizations. I got to learn about her personal experience with these organizations. Chelsea is a senior and will be graduating in May. The two organizations she is involved in is the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice and Alpha Phi Sigma.

The National Organization of Blacks in Criminal Justice is a non profit association with multi- ethic community leaders and C.J professionals. The NABCJ is the first chapter at Michigan State University and in the Midwest. The National Organization of Blacks in Criminal Justice mission is said to be,"to serve as a professional and social network for African- American undergraduate and graduate students in the field of Criminal Justice."  According to Chelsea, NABCJ did not meet her expectations. She said it was not well organized and did not get to network and meet with criminal justice professionals as much as she hoped to. Chelsea tried to join the e-board of the organization, but it was too stressful for her with the schedule she had. The National Organization of Blacks in Criminal Justice was not as beneficial to her as much as Alpha Phi Sigma.

Alpha Phi Sigma is a national honor society for criminal justice students. The honor society helps criminal justice students gain leadership roles and learn about the criminal justice field. The honor society also provides volunteer activities and presentations by important speakers which help you gain connections in the criminal justice field. Chelsea had a very positive journey with Alpha Phi Sigma. She stated, "Alpha Phi Sigma did more to meet my expectations, it does help you network and meet with professionals. Also, it helps to get a better idea at what you want to do in the criminal justice field. It pushed me to be better at maintaining a good goal to be a part of it."

According to Chelsea, her opinion was both organizations represent themselves very highly and professional. In her case, Alpha Phi Sigma high representation matched their performance and NABCJ did not. Every one has a different experience in joining organizations for their field, so for truth vs. representation, I believe you have to find out the truth for yourself.

http://cj.msu.edu/undergraduate-information/student-life/