(CJ Paper) Criminal Justice eJournaling

Professional Journaling: Criminal Justice Bound

Writing is definitely my forte. I found this out long ago in Elementary, Junior High, and High School when I would have a love to research and write papers about any subject set forth in front of me vs. creating a visual project (if given a choice). In High School, it was more evident through the Senior level of English courses wherein we were required to journal throughout our enriched English courses. Through journaling, I discovered that it was a valuable tool to re-discover myself, who I was, and where I was heading. As such, I was pleasantly surprised to see it utilized in this Capstone program which gives a sense of finality, as well as a sense of wrapping up what we have learned thus far in the Criminal Justice programs.
I began the journaling process in a notebook, as I have naturally been acclimated to do in the process, complete with articles cut out, etc. Then the Professor informed me that it had to be done electronically. Drat! I had it going but good through that venue. I pulled the reigns and began rethinking my process (as we often have to do when we begin our brainstorming processes to find a viable solution to any dilemma that we may have to consider).

Next, I started to write it out in the MS Word format, but with my love for writing, I could see that that might create a problem when uploading it for submission to the Professor for grading purposes. By putting on my thinking cap some more, I combined my love for “blogging” (the art of posting creative thoughts on a web site in a journal type format) with the task at hand and created a “blogging” website where I could expand upon my journaling process for the project and still have plenty of room to write. Thus, CJ eJournaling was born!!

Within the journal process, I began with some early thoughts generated at the beginning of the term and created such posts as:

- What is the Professional Development Journal;
- Lawmakers fixing Crime Lab Woes;
- Death Penalty Protests?;
- CJ Briefs 010905;
- Crisis Service Crisis!;
- The Description of the DVSA Shelter;
- More on Shelter Funding;
- NAMI - Capitol Day 2005; AND
- Death Penalty Examined.

Eventually, these posts also included my experiences with the Citizens’ Police Academy I was taking at the Cedar Park Police Department, such as:

- CPCA Orientation Day 020105;
- CPCA Criminal Investigation Overiew; AND
- CPCA Special Response Team 031505.

And, as the course was wrapping up its term, so I was beginning to post some conclusion ideas about the direction(s) I am heading for, such as: - Checkpoint Charlie One; AND, - FINAL REFLECTION 032005.


For more details of each of these, and others not mentioned above, postings, you should definitely go and explore by logging into the CJ eJounraling website in its entirety though.

The journaling process was an interesting experience. Through the experience, I reminded myself that my forte is writing and, in anything that I do endeavor myself into, writing should be a criteria of the job. I also reminded that my paralegal experience and my advocacies experiences (child, disabled, mentally challenged, and the elderly) has had a huge impact on making myself who I am today; this is evident, not only in the CJ eJournaling, but in my many other blogging websites, such as: Bluebonnet Blooms, Bluebonnet Missions, Bluebonnet It Ought to be a Law, etc. In the end, I believe that, while the criminal justice degree program is going to play a huge impact on my life as well, my next maneuver, in the big scheme of things education-wise, is to pursue next my Bachelor’s in Paralegal Studies with a concentration in mediation. Not only will mediation provide a viable income where I can potentially never become underemployed again, it will provide another avenue where I can finally mingle and better utilize all my background experiences where it will certainly give me the best advantage possible in the field – especially when dealing with any one of my advocacy experiences. In the meantime, I am hoping to also supplement my volunteer experience with aid to the Cedar Park Police Department through assisting the Victims’ Assistance Coordinator there, who, also, happens to be a part of their negotiations team. When I began my criminal justice education, I wasn’t quite sure the direction that I should be heading towards (just knowing that I could never apply as a police officer because of my age is over their 34 years of age restriction); however, now, after the Capstone course, I have had an opportunity to surmise the whole picture after the last 2 years of education I have been involved with and come up with a big picture plan.

Thank you!

Bibliography


Brown, Sgt. Darlene, Cedar Park Citizen’s Academy Manual, established by the Cedar Park Police Department: Cedar Park, Texas (Spring 2005).

Articles found in the Austin American-Statesman:


Articles found in The Daily Texas Online:


Exhibit experience from The Dougherty Arts Center: