As Seen On TV?
- on 04.26.09
- Diary Entry
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Dear Diary,
What a week! A non-traditional student walks into my office the other day, tired of her current job and ready to make a drastic change. I was excited to help in her endeavor until she began describing her plans. She wants to double major in Biochemistry and Criminal Justice…with a concentration in Forensic Science. She explains, “I just love that show CSI and want to do that job so bad!”
As gently as I could, I explained that she wouldn’t need a Criminal Justice degree, that she’d concentrate on science since she would spend most of her time in a lab examining things. She replied, “Oh, I know I’d start there, but when I move up wouldn’t I need to know about how to arrest people and investigate the crimes?” Twenty minutes later, she finally understood that CSI is a dramatic show, and not an accurate representation of forensic science.
So now she plans to major in Biochemistry, minor in Criminal Justice (just in case) and write a strongly worded letter to CBS about their show.
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Chuckling…Can you believe the influence that TV still has on young people? Now look at the impact of the internet which holds little to no credibility in terms of what’s being published. Scary, but it looks like there’s a glimmer of hope…one kid at a time! Keep at it Advisors!!
It is sad how some students think they find their life’s work through modern media. Years ago I had a student tell me he intended to study spiders, because he had just seen the movie Arachnophobia……He went into Arts shortly thereafter…..
I have had a lot of students like this too!
Maybe she should have minored in Theatre- acting?
So many students watch CSI. When trying to remember ADJ Criminal Justice as a major, the first word that comes out of their mouths is” You know, to be a person like on CSI”.
We could probably increase the number of students who want to be an academic advisor if hollywood would do a show about life in an advising center. It could be a comedy or a drama.
Kinda like my students that want to be engineers because they want to “drive” a train
Yep…been there at least 5 times a week! Similar to I want to be a detective but don’t want to be a police officer. Umm yeah!
Good thing she wasn’t watching Reno 911.
I can see how students are impacted by the Rescue 911 shows as well. One of my students said she wanted to declare Criminal Justice, so that she could serve as a Student Patrol worker on campus, but really wants to major in Early Childhood. She is fascinated by the uniform t-shirts and giving out citations on campus. WOW!!!