Ferrum's Criminal Justice program offers a variety of different and interesting classes. My favorite class that I am currently taking is Criminal Profiling. I took this class because I love to watch shows like Criminal Minds. This class makes you think differently than other criminal justice classes. You learn about trying to solve crimes by using psychological means. I am interested in this class because I also have Psychology and Sociology minors.
The Criminal Justice program offers different classes for students who wish to go into the different areas of the Criminal Justice field. There are classes in Forensic Science, Police Administration, Juvenile Justice, and many others. This is a great advantage because the program offers students the opportunity to learn about many different topics in the criminal justice fields.
If you are planning on coming to Ferrum to major or minor in Criminal Justice, I suggest taking as many different classes in the subject as you can. The idea of what you want to do after you graduate from college may change many times throughout your years here, so having knowledge in many areas can help you determine which area you want to pursue.
I am President of the local sorority Theta Gamma Omega, also known as OGO. During September and the beginning of October, we held a campus-wide coat and teddy bear drive. We collected these items in order to donate them to the Rescue Mission located in Roanoke. We collected coats of all sizes for the adults and children who use the services that the Rescue Mission provides.
OGO also teamed up with the local fraternity Mu Sigma Chi, or MEX, to take the items to be dropped off. Upon dropping off our items that were donated, our two groups also volunteered at the Rescue Mission for their lunch shift. We were involved in making hundreds of sandwiches for the needy and even helped serve in the cafeteria lines. Both groups helped to clean dishes, prepare food, and help the Rescue Mission in many ways. It was very a humbling and beneficial experience for everyone involved.
Greeks and other groups on campus try to be involved in community service projects such as this as often as possible. OGO and other Greeks try to be living examples of Ferrum's motto "Not Self, But Others." Becoming part of a Greek organization on campus helped me to become more active both on campus and in the community as a whole. This is just one of the many benefits that becoming involved in this organization has done for me. For anyone who is interested in helping others, being involved in the community, and having fun at the same time, I strongly suggest "Going Greek!"
Ferrum always has something going on to entertain students. It also holds a big concert every spring in which the students vote on who they want to come to Ferrum.
This year, the winner was Corey Smith. I attended this concert and it was by far one of the best concerts I have ever attended. I felt like he was a good choice because he just fits in with the atmosphere that Ferrum has. He was very interactive with the audience and put on a great show!
Before the concert started, Corey even tweeted me back, which is something that not many celebrities will do. Ferrum offers its students many opportunities to make once-in-a-lifetime memories throughout their college years and this is just an example of one.
Spending money is something you will have to do at college, but there are many ways for you to limit the amount of money that you spend. For example, fast food is very expensive, so instead of going out to McDonald's or Wendy's with friends, eat more meals in the dining hall. You also have $325 to spend at Papa Johns, Subway, and Starbucks throughout the semester. So, if you are hungry, you can get food from these places with just a swipe of your student ID. If you're absolutely determined to go out to eat with friends somewhere off-campus, I suggest going to Bowling’s Hotdogs. They have some of thebest hotdogs I have ever eaten and they only cost 1.25. You can get a whole meal at Bowling’s for less than you spend on a sandwich at a fast food restaurant.
Another way to save money is to find other things to do that do not cost money. If you really want to watch a movie, rent a movie out of the library that you haven’t seen and watch it with a group of friends instead of going to the movie theater. Ferrum also offers free bowling nights and free movie nights periodically throughout the year. No matter what, you can always find something fun to do at Ferrum that will not be too expensive. There are free concerts, illusionists, comedians, and all sorts of other acts that come to the campus every year. So, don’t concern yourself with going out and buying tickets to things and spending money that you can save for later. Take advantage of the events on campus and you will save a lot of money and have fun while doing it.
During your college years, you will have the opportunity to take online classes. Some people do not like these classes because feel they learn better in a classroom environment. I personally like online classes because I think they give me more free time! It gives you more responsibility because you have to do all of your homework and assignments without relying on your teacher to lecture you the material.
In most lecture classes, students do not take the time to read their textbooks for class. In online classes, you have to and I think that it makes you feel more obligated to actually learn the material. Online classes are for students who are mature enough to handle the responsibility of learning the material for the class by themselves. Even with the responsibility of taking online classes, there are some rewards. For example, you will spend less time in a classroom during the week. This semester, I took advantage of this and only have one class on Tuesdays and Thursdays because of it. I recommend taking online classes to anyone who feels that they will be successful in them.
The online class that I am currently taking is State and Local Government with Dr. Hally. I chose to take this class online so that I could keep my Tuesdays and Thursdays less busy because I have four classes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I also like to limit my Tuesday/Thursday classes because they last for an hour and twenty minutes and I prefer to have shorter classes. The extra time that my online class allows me to have outside of the classroom lets me have time to get homework for my other classes done. In Dr. Hally's class, we are required to do one reading response or discussion board per week to show what we have learned from the reading. As long as you have read the material and applied yourself, you will do well in class. I hope to take more online classes in my future semesters at Ferrum!
Everyone is somewhat familiar with fraternities and sororities in college. For the past two years that I have been a student at Ferrum College, I have not been a part of a sorority. This semester, I decided to pledge for Zeta Chi Epsilon (ZXE). I have been friends with most of the members for a long time, and I finally decided that I wanted to join their sorority.
Me and a future sorority sister!
I am excited to go through the pledging process and to finally be a part of the Greek life on campus. Sororities and fraternities give you a family that you can count on to have your back and help you when you need it. I have just started the pledging process, but the members of ZXE already feel like family to me and I don't know where I would be without them.
My advice to you is that if you are thinking about joining a fraternity or sorority, GO FOR IT! You only go to college once, and you can have a lot of great experiences with these groups. Just make sure that your grades and school work are your main priority!
For my first two years at Ferrum, I had the same roommate, who was a girl that I was really good friends with in high school. We got along great and always had a great time. This year, she did not return to Ferrum and I am living with a new roommate. Since I’m experiencing living with a new roommate and I know that many other students are doing the same, I figured that I would give some advice about the experience.
Rooming with a person can either harm your friendship or make it greater. When you live with someone, you learn things about them you would never expect, and you must learn to accept who they are. You have to learn to balance your life with your other friends while also trying to incorporate your roommate into your social life.
You also have to establish some basic rules of how to live in the same room. For example, if you have something personal that you don’t want anyone to touch, just tell your roommate; they should understand. If you have a problem with your roommate, you need to be straight forward with them about it and tell them you are having an issue. If you don’t, the problem will usually not resolve itself and could get worse. It is better to have a small argument earlier than a huge argument later on in the year.
Making shirts with paint is a great bonding activity for roommates
Everyone has their own style of living and dorms are a small space. You must both learn to share equally the space you are given while also being able to be yourselves. If you are uncomfortable being yourself around someone you’re living with, it will make for a very miserable year; get to know your roommate and find things that you have in common. It could also help to plan things to do together like movie or game nights in the room. Living with someone new can be a very difficult challenge, but it could lead to a great friendship!
When you become a student at Ferrum College, there are a set number of classes that you have to take in order to meet your liberal core requirements. For example, every student must take classes to meet speaking intensive, writing intensive, fine arts, English, Bible-based course, Religion/Philosophy, Fine Arts, Mathematics, Natural Science, Literature, History, Social Science requirements, and an Activity Course.
In order to meet the requirement for my activity course credit, I took a dance class that was offered at Ferrum. Classes such as team sports, rock-climbing and many others are also offered as options to fill this requirement. Dance is available for any Ferrum student to participate in, even if they have never danced previously. The class is held one night a week for about two hours, so it does not have a huge impact on a student’s schedule. The class requires that the students participate in a dance recital that occurs at the end of the semester. Each student will be in a large group dance with all of the other students in their class that the teacher choreographs.
Students will also make small group dances in which they choose their song and choreograph the entire dance. My group chose to do a dance to “I Write Sins, Not Tragedies” by Panic! At The Disco. Our dance included doing the Jive, a backflip stunt, and even the famous Carlton from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Being in the dance recital was a great experience, and I recommend that anyone who is interested in dance or who wants to have a lot of fun to take the class.
Graduating from high school and deciding to attend college is a huge change in a young person’s life. Making new friends is an essential part of the college student lifestyle. The Criminal Justice Program here at Ferrum College helped me to make many new friends that have the same major or minor as I do.
When you are a freshman at Ferrum, you are required to take a class called Gateway Seminar. This is basically your “welcome to college class.” You meet your classmates from your Gateway class on the first weekend that you arrive at Ferrum. These students are typically those who have the same area of study as you do. For example, my Gateway class was filled with mostly Criminal Justice majors, and I also had a Criminal Justice professor for my teacher. This teacher was, and still is, my advisor to whom I go to when I need help deciding which classes to take or making other decisions that college students are frequently faced with. The friends that I made in Gateway have remained my friends throughout my college career so far. I have had many other classes with them due to the fact that we all need most of the same classes to get our degrees. Meeting these other students on your first weekend here helps you adjust more easily to your other classes when they begin because you will already know some of the other students who are in them.
Clubs also give you an outlet in which to help you make friends and adjust to college.
During the last weekend in March, some friends and I from Ferrum’s Criminal Justice Club had a great time working at the NASCAR race at the Martinsville Speedway, located about 33 miles south of Ferrum College.
The Criminal Justice Club helped me meet many upperclassmen from my major who gave me advice about certain classes and teachers. It is very useful to get advice from those who have already been in the position you are in and have learned from their mistakes. They can help you to not make the same bad decision that they made.
Being part of the Criminal Justice Club also helped me to become closer with the other members because we spend a lot of time together working on projects or other activities, along with attending conventions. Conventions also allow you to make new friends from all over the country while also gaining valuable knowledge in your field of study. Pictured on the right are my friends Ben and Ashley, and I in Graceland at a criminal justice convention. Becoming involved in clubs and activities that are related to your major are great opportunities that Ferrum College offers its students. My advice to all the incoming new students is to become involved in as many clubs and organizations as possible during your years here at Ferrum. You will meet a lot of new friends and open doors to many opportunities.
The Criminal Justice Club offers many opportunities for Criminal Justice majors and minors to gain experience and learn more about the different careers in the field. For example, when the club attends national or regional conventions, members are given opportunities to have ride-alongs with police officers, participate in mock crime scene investigations, and meet some very influential professionals within the criminal justice field.
The connections that club members like me make with the field professionals give us an upper edge in getting employed in the field after we finish our education. We can meet FBI agents, police officers, crime scene investigators, and many other members in the field at these conferences. We learn first-hand about the aspects of each of these jobs so that we can be more educated in making our career choice. Meeting these professionals and hearing what they had to say about their occupations has helped me to narrow down my choices in deciding what I want to do within the criminal justice system.
If it were not for the Criminal Justice Club, I would not have learned as much about the different career paths within the field as I know now. The club fundraises throughout the year in order to obtain money to attend the conventions, which help members gain experience and knowledge that cannot be merely learned in a classroom. The conventions also give me the opportunity to travel to different parts of the country. So far, I have visited Nashville, Tennessee and New Haven, Connecticut with the club. During these trips, we have visited the University of Yale, the Mississippi River, and many other places. The club’s convention trips are an all-around great and beneficial experience!
I am Victoria and I am a sophomore at Ferrum College. I am studying criminal justice as my major with minors in psychology and sociology. I would like to use my education in these fields to eventually work in the federal law system.
I come from a small town called Claudville, Virginia which is about an hour south of Ferrum. One of the main reasons that I chose to attend Ferrum College is that it was close to my hometown and was also the same type of setting that I was raised in. I found out about Ferrum through one of my friends who is currently a junior at the college. She told me about Ferrum and invited me to visit it for a weekend, and I knew from that point that Ferrum was the college for me.
I love the atmosphere and beautiful scenery around the Ferrum College campus. I also liked that it is a small school, which means that it is easier for professors to interact and help the students in their classes. The professors at Ferrum College have been more than helpful to me in making important decisions about my future and with simple tasks, such as helping with an assignment. Professors here are always willing to help students with anything that they need and to offer suggestions to students on how they can improve their work.
In addition to attending classes at Ferrum, I am also a student ambassador and a very active member of the Criminal Justice Club. The Criminal Justice Club, along with my classes, has provided me with many useful connections with people that could help me to get a job after I graduate. The club and classes have also helped me gain a lot of knowledge and experience about the criminal justice field. I believe that Ferrum College is doing a great job at preparing me for my future while also offering me many opportunities to be involved in campus and community activities. Ferrum College has provided me with many memories of spending time with new friends that will last a lifetime!
