Throughout my life and career, I have witnessed the profound and multifaceted impact of intimate partner violence on survivors’ mental health, housing, and financial security. This realization has shaped my clear, central career goal: to champion integrated, long-term support for survivors as the primary focus of my professional journey, addressing the ongoing barriers to safe, independent living. Studying criminal justice helped me understand the systemic challenges survivors face when navigating legal systems. My work experience emphasized the need for compassion, advocacy, and trauma-informed care. While crisis shelters, victim advocacy, and counseling are vital, greater collaboration among social services, housing programs, and mental health resources is essential for lasting outcomes. Survivors often remain in abusive situations due to fears of homelessness, financial instability, or losing support for themselves and their children. Through my work, I've seen that stable housing and consistent support systems are critical for regaining independence and confidence. This understanding has inspired me to pursue a career assisting vulnerable populations and advocating for systemic improvements, ensuring survivors have access to resources that protect them during emergencies and support their long-term healing, education, and self-sufficiency. My continued education toward a Master of Social Work and clinical licensure advances my thesis: I am dedicated to leveraging my experience to design and champion comprehensive, integrated support for survivors of intimate partner violence. My goal is to create programs that not only address immediate crises but also measurably increase the percentage of survivors who have stable housing, achieve positive mental health outcomes, and improve financial independence. By prioritizing coordinated housing assistance, counseling, and career support, I aim to empower survivors to achieve self-sufficiency and long-term stability. In the future, I also hope to work alongside community organizations and policymakers to improve accessibility to survivor resources, especially in underserved communities where many individuals may not know where to seek help. Education and awareness are essential in reducing the stigma surrounding intimate partner violence and encouraging more people to seek assistance safely. I believe that professionals in social work and criminal justice have a responsibility to advocate for policies and programs that prioritize survivors' safety, dignity, and long-term well-being. My unwavering commitment is to advocate for accessible, holistic services addressing the complex effects of intimate partner violence. My overarching thesis and central professional aim are to expand and integrate support programs so every survivor has the resources to heal, rebuild, and thrive, achieving lasting hope and strength.

Hello, my name is Ceraya Simon. I am a rising junior majoring in criminal justice, attending Howard University, and from Los Angeles, California. The goal of my criminology degree is to become a detective, but I have the option of choosing from a variety of careers. During the time it takes me to get there, I would prefer to pursue a career in social work, probation, or corrections. Once I get my degree in criminal justice, I will then find a job in either of the three professions I mentioned above. I believe once I graduate with my BAS in criminal justice, I will be able to make a change in my community, even if it's just a little because I love this career. To enjoy a job and be willing to do whatever it takes to serve and protect your community, you have to be passionate about it. Being passionate about your career is an important factor when choosing your profession. Not only would you have to attend school to gain more knowledge about your career, but it also allows you to care for individuals as family, and you make connections with each other to build trust. The only way we can improve our community is by improving ourselves and the individuals who reside in it. Because what is a community without its people? Entering this field of work will give me a better understanding of how to pay close attention to an individual’s behavior, give me a better intake of how to orally communicate and listen, as well as teach me how to problem solve and have patience. I plan on using all these skills to lead with integrity and gain the trust of coworkers and the inmates or suspects I would have to work with. It is very important to me to be able to build any kind of relationship with the person, not only for the sake of feeling comfortable with me but to also feel comfortable and secure within themselves. With this degree, I hope to keep people out of jail, as well as keep them from going back by doing my best to rehabilitate rather than punish those I am involved with. As a parole officer, I know it is my job to make sure the individual has a set plan for themselves when they get back into the real world and do check-ins to make sure they are maintaining the plan.

Greetings! My name is Ceraya Simon. I am a rising junior majoring in criminal justice, studying at the illustrious Howard University. From 2016 through 2019, I used to volunteer for a company named SAVES and my church had a program called FEED THE NEED. In both programs, we would get food, clothes, and toys distributions, and it was our job to separate clothes and toys from little kids up to teens. As far as the food, we had to pick out the good ones, because everything we received was donated items. For SAVES, we had two different occasions where we'd set out all the food, clothes on racks, and toys in bins, and that was for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The day before each holiday, we’d allow low-income families to shop around, but they were limited to a certain amount depending on how many members were in their family. In the end, whatever was left was ours to take. For my church, we would hold the FEED THE NEED program every fourth Saturday. We would go to the houses near the church and hand out flyers letting everyone know that there were groceries, food, and toys to take home, as well as a hot plate of food to eat when you were to arrive. At the time I volunteered, I was only 12; I looked at it as an activity to do on the holidays and weekends. Now that I am older, I have a better understanding of what the program was for. The program was to give back to the misfortuned and allow them to enjoy their holidays just like everyone else. I was just a volunteer, but for other workers, it was a job assigned to them after getting into trouble with the law to help them get back on their feet. Going through that program reminds me to be grateful for everything I receive, even if it isn't much because someone who has less than me would keep it looking brand new forever. Giving back to my community at such a young age gave me the motivation to better my community even more when I obtain my degree. It has influenced me to major in my career because I would build a shelter for the homeless and ask my detainees if they are willing to volunteer there so they can get good behavior on their record and let them experience what it feels like to give back to the community, which will give them hope for a better life in the future. For individuals in the shelter, I will have workers there who will help everyone obtain all their information if they don't already have it, help them build up their resumes, prepare them for interviews, as well as help them start a job. And even after that, I will start a savings program to help individuals save up for their own place. Therefore, we can avoid having individuals sleep outside as well as give everyone a second chance. The Petey Greene Program is something I plan on volunteering for during the upcoming school year. Besides building my resume, volunteering here will allow me to gauge what it's like to work "hands-on" in the field I'm interested in. The Petey Greene Program was founded in 2008 by Charlie and Cordie Puttkammer, shortly after Petey Greene’s passing. supports incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people with individualized academic tutoring and educates tutors on the injustice of their criminal system. The founders are located in New Jersey, but they offer a volunteer program on Howard’s campus. Though it has just been brought up to my knowledge, many universities throughout the country have this program available for their students who study criminal justice, but it was created in DC due to the Puttkammers and Greene working for the same establishment at United Planning Organization. The ideal way for me to begin my career would be to volunteer for this organization. As I previously mentioned, this program perfectly encapsulates what I would like to accomplish with my degree, not just for prisoners but for everyone in need. Although the group I found may not garner as much attention on a global scale, I can start in my small city and work my way up to become as well-known as the Petey Greene organization itself. In the future, I believe this will have an impact on my community and change individuals' lives for the better. As long as I strive to accomplish at least one of the many goals I have, I will see success in my community and carry it on to other communities.

I made the decision to pursue a career in the criminal justice major because of my mother. She worked as a security guard for over 10 years. Her job would often allow her to bring me to work with her, and I would assist her with safe projects. Growing up and watching her work inspired me. It made me believe it was possible for me to succeed in law enforcement. At the moment, I do not have a set-in-stone choice as to what role I would want to play in law enforcement, but I do have a few options to choose from. The options I have been pondering starting a career in are either social worker, correctional officer, or parole officer. These fields interest me because of the impact and potential for good they have in people's lives. Throughout their careers, social workers often stand in for their clients, who are in different situations. Correctional officers watch over the inmates and keep everyone in order, but some build relationships with them to get an understanding of how they got into the situation that they're in. Secondly, parole officers help you stay on track with your life so that you can avoid going back down the wrong path. Lastly, a social worker helps families and adopts children in bad situations. Each one of these careers allows me to help people who need it the most and change their lives, and knowing that I have the will to make that change with them is everything I can strive for. The prompt asks how “I believe I can make an impact on the world”, I believe that to make an impact on the world, we have to first better the lives of the individuals living in it, which I know I will achieve through this profession. Understanding people for who they are is an important part of life in general and often coincides with mental health and well-being. If I can do my best to understand the lives of others, then I will be able to sympathize with them. Criminal justice is not only about getting violence off the street, but it is also about caring for one another, making sure that an individual understands that we as a community understand what you may be going through, and we try to work together as a community to help you find solutions to defer from violence, such as therapy groups, or even one-on-one sessions because a community is nothing without the many valued and varied individuals that make it up.

My mother is the reason I chose a criminal justice career. My mother graduated with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. Upon graduating, she initially worked as a security guard at her alma mater, at different schools in the vicinity, and even sometimes at local concerts. Later on in her career she was promoted to the rank of officer, but unfortunately, her career ended as soon as it started due to her becoming pregnant with my little sister. Often she would bring me and my sisters to work with her. I would help her organize some paperwork and do things around the office. Though I was too young to understand anything, I was nonetheless intrigued by the work. Growing up in that kind of environment led me to aspiring to become an officer. It was my goal from childhood though as I got older, the adults around me wanted me to pick a career on the safer side. Even then, it didn’t stop me from dreaming. My dream is to become a detective. As I work towards that position, in the meantime I will look into working as a social worker probation officer, or a corrections officer. Once I graduate from any of these professions, I can make a difference by helping families reunite. I can also guide individuals step-by-step to change their lives for the better. It is my goal to use my position as a way to rehabilitate and create my own "rehab" for the lost rather than punish, in order for them to feel comfortable enough to open up about where they are going, and provide them with the opportunity to start over. I believe once I graduate with my BAS in criminal justice, I will be able to make a change in my community, even if it's just a little, because I love this career, and to enjoy a job, and be willing to do whatever it takes to serve and protect your community, you have to be passionate about it. Being passionate about your career is an important factor when choosing your profession. Not only would you have to attend school to gain more knowledge on your career,but it allows you to care for individuals as family, and you make connections with each other to build trust. The only way we can better our community is by bettering ourselves, and the individuals who reside in it. Because what is a community without its people?

Back in 2016 through 2019, I used to volunteer for a company named SAVES. In the program, we would get food, clothes,and toys distributions everyday, and it was our job to separate clothes and toys from little kids up to teens. As far as the food, we had to pick out the good ones, because everything we received were donated items. We had 2 different occasions where we'd set out all the food and clothes on racks, and toys in bins, and that was for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The day before each holiday we’d allow low income families to shop around, but they were limited to a certain amount depending on how many members were in their family. At the end, whatever was left was ours to take. At the time I had volunteered I was only 12, I looked at it as an activity to do on thanksgiving and christmas break. Now that I am older I have a better understanding of what the program was for. The program was to give back to the misfortuned and allow them to enjoy their holidays just like everyone else. I was just a volunteer, but for other workers, it was a job assigned to them after getting in trouble with the law to help them get back on their feet. Going through that program reminds me to be grateful for everything I receive, even if it isn't much, because someone who has less than me would keep it looking brand new forever. Since then, I have implanted more community friendly practices in my everyday life, whether that be donating clothes that don’t fit or feeding the homeless with my family. That experience was a pivotal moment in my life. It was at a time that I was starting to be more cognizant of the world and the person I was living in it. It made me reconsider my place, position and what I could do to help those around me. I am really grateful for the lessons I learned through SAVES. I am a rising junior studying at Howard University, who did not get housing, which led me to have to rent out a room for the year, while also paying for my tuition by myself as well as get a scholarship taken away. This scholarship would help me financially be able to complete my semesters studies without any distractions worrying about, if I'm going to be withdrawn from the university for having late payments due to paying rent to make sure i have a place to lay my head at night. Receiving this scholarship would allow me to pay off my tuition for the semester, which would take a weight off my shoulder and allow me to focus on my studies more sufficiently. My name is Ceraya Simon, and I am thankful I was given the opportunity to apply for this scholarship.

Hello, my name is Ceraya Simon. I am a junior majoring in Criminal Justice studying at Howard University. In the long run, I plan on using my degree to become a detective. But after graduation, I look forward to going into other professions such as a Parole Officer, Correctional Officer, or Social Worker. I chose this major because my mother studied in this field. I would love to work to build my community. Entering this field of work will give me a better understanding of how to pay close attention to an individual’s behavior, give me a better intake of how to orally communicate and listen, as well as teach me how to problem solve and have patience. I plan on using all these skills to lead with integrity and gain the trust of coworkers and the inmates or suspects I would have to work with. It is very important to me to be able to build any kind of relationship with the person, not only for the sake of feeling comfortable with me but to also feel comfortable and secure within themselves. With this degree, I hope to keep people out of jail, as well as keep them from going back by doing my best to rehabilitate rather than punish those I am involved with. As a parole officer, I know it is my job to make sure the individual has a set plan for themselves when they get back into the real world and do check-ins to make sure they are maintaining the plan. The prompt asks how “I believe I can make an impact on the world”, I believe that to make an impact on the world, we have to first start with the individuals living in it which will achieve through this profession. Understanding an individual is an important factor and often has a lot to do with mental health and well-being. If I can do my best to understand the lives of others, then I will be able to sympathize with the individuals. Criminal Justice, is not only about getting violence off the street, but it is also about caring for one another, making sure that an individual understands that we as a community understand what you may be going through, and we try to work together as a community to help you find solutions to defer from violence, such as therapy groups, or even one-on-one sessions because a community is nothing without the many valued and varied individuals that make it up. What I love about a criminology degree is that I am not limited to only one thing in life, all the professions I have listed earlier don’t just allow me to make individuals better people, but allow me to better myself too. My work to improve individuals is not healthy nor appropriate if I am not taking care of myself, too, so that everyone around me, including myself, receives the best version of me. I hope this essay finds you all well, and thank you for taking the time to read it.

Greetings, I'm Ceraya Simon. I'm 18 years old, and I am a freshman studying Criminology at Howard University. Once I complete my education, I hope to become a detective. Taking care of our community is important because when we were young, we had nothing, and when we are able to attain a small amount of something, it is snatched from us. It is my intention to utilize my platform to give back to families, neighbors, communities, etc. Stopping gang violence and starting a program for troubled children are among the things I want to accomplish. I also want to continue giving food, clothes, and gifts to those in need. I can't say that it will make much of a difference, but it will be the beginning of a new era.

I will be attending Howard University in Fall 2021. With the financial aid I have received because of my grades, I am able to pay for the first year of college. With me being the first one in my family for generations to actually go to a university, we often struggle to figure out how I'm going to pay for the remaining 3 years since neither of my parent's works and every time I apply for a job I don't get the position because I'm still in school. At one point I was thinking about not going and just attend a community college or take a post year and get a job to save up some money and then go to a university so that I'd be able to pay for my classes, books, dorm, etc. I am going to school for criminal justice to become a detective, and I would also like to get into the real estate business. In my economics class, I am taking right now, he is teaching us how to save our money responsibly, and limiting how much we spend when we get credit cards, how to budget when we get our own living space and have to buy furniture, etc. These lessons he's teaching us are very important and helpful to me because I'm all about saving money and buying essentials for the low if it's a good product. I will apply this to my life as soon as I'm 18 and old enough to get a credit card so I can start.

My journey with self-love has been a rollercoaster. I used to not like the way I looked because I was short with a gap and I had an outie. As I got older I learned to love my flaws in myself. My self-love has impacted my relationship with my mom the most. I do things that make me happy or that calm me down when I'm frustrated, for example, if I am irritated ill go for a walk, or listen to music to clear my head, and its always taken as me being disrespectful because I am not communicating with the family. I learned in order to love myself I had to stop trying to give out love to other people if I didn't even know what self-love felt like. It's been a struggle to love myself lately since I and my mom always get into it over little things, and my mind starts to wonder that maybe she doesn't like me, it has gotten to the point where I started to think about suicide. I even started to think that my beliefs in God weren't real. I started to question, why when I pray for a better relationship with my mom, the exact opposite happens? It got so bad I started to manifest a better relationship with her. After I talked with my sister, she explained to me that I needed to start taking more time for myself and I'm back in happy spirits honestly. I tried my best and that's all that matters but I can't keep beating myself down for somebody who doesn't care. I wake up every morning thankful that I'm still here with a smile on my face, I go about my day.

"I have learned that track doesn't define me. My faith defines me. I'm running because I have been blessed with a gift." ~ Allyson Felix. This quote is motivational to me because I have been running track since 7th grade, in both middle school and high school, I have been the fastest girl on my team. People weren't understanding how a 4'11 girl with asthma ran that fast and was good at it. I had struggles with my asthma in the winters during track conditioning and wanted to quit because I never experienced any breathing problems during track in middle school, it wasn't normal for me. After I prayed about it, I realized, I did have a talent, a gift from God because I had asthma and still ran really well. Most kids I knew that had asthma didn't run because they had it as well, but I had gotten used to getting my lungs conditioned as well if you'd say. Most of all, I was short. Everybody on the team was taller than me, so their stride was bigger than mine, 2 step stride for them would be 6 steps for me, but I was still faster. It was really how I thought about the situation. If I thought " well they're taller than me, I'm never going to beat them" I had already let them win. I always think positively, and if I didn't win, I was always a good sport.

Hi, my name is Ceraya Simon, I am currently a senior in high school. I am in a club called the Black Student Union(BSU). I run track, I am currently doing my senior year online, its not all that bad besides having to sit in front of a screen for 4 hours, but I passed my first semester with straight A's, so I can't complain. After I graduate I plan on going to a 4-year university to run track, and to study criminal justice to become a detective. I would also like to do Real Estate. In the future with sports, I had planned on making it into the '24 Olympics, but we'll see if there will even be one. As of right now, I have gotten accepted into 1 of my top schools, I have applied to scholarships that my school has set up, as well as outside of school. Throughout my years in Highschool, I have planned to get straight A's all 4 years, almost happened I was close, but still did well all while being involved in a sport. To better myself, it may seem stingy or selfish, but I stopped helping people out that never wanted to help me when I needed it, which was very rare. After I focused on myself, my grades stayed on top this year, my school was nominating me for awards, I had gotten accepted to a lot of schools. I'm not saying that I don't help people out that need it, I'm just not as available as I used to be. I have a lot of goals for myself in life, and it feels like I have so little time to accomplish them. But when I make it to some of my goals in life, ill feel good no matter if I don't accomplish everything, because I know I've done my best.