[MUSIC PLAYING]
MALIEQ THOMAS: My name is Malieq Thomas,
and my major is administration in criminal justice.
Originally, I was in the military.
I was in the Marine Corps.
And we would be deployed out to the Philippines
to build schools and things like that.
And I wanted to bring that back home.
I wanted to serve back home kind of like the way I did there.
ANA ROSALES: My name is Ana Rosales.
I am a professor of criminal justice
here at Chaffey College.
I was a probation officer for 17 years.
I worked with juveniles, and I worked with adults.
MALIEQ THOMAS: Once I got out of high school,
I wanted to do something big.
I wanted to be a hero.
I wanted to be able to help and serve community.
College was always a really scary thing for me.
I thought if I didn't do good in high school,
I'm not going to do good in college.
Something that drew me to community college versus going
straight to university was it's just me
in a class of maybe nine other people,
and I'm able to really ask the questions
that I have in my mind.
And it was just a lot less intimidating
than going straight to university.
ANA ROSALES: All of our instructors at Chaffey
are industry professionals.
They're all working in the field.
Who better to ask for advice than your professors?
MALIEQ THOMAS: The very first week of class, the professor,
he was speaking about how joining the police force
is not about having a warrior mentality.
It's about having a protector mentality.
That just brought me to tears because it kind of just
affirmed that like, wow, I'm where I'm supposed to be.
I'm learning what I need to learn in order
to be effective in the field.
ANA ROSALES: The type of student that's
best suited for this type of career
is someone who truly enjoys helping others.
It's so important to give back to the community.
MALIEQ THOMAS: These classes at Chaffey
have really brought me closer towards my goal of joining
the police force.
ANA ROSALES: We can help you achieve
whatever educational goals.
Law enforcement is a beautiful career.
It's a rewarding career.
MALIEQ THOMAS: Just do it.
Jump in.
ANA ROSALES: I really encourage you
to attend Chaffey and pursue a major in administration
of justice.
MALIEQ THOMAS: I'm absorbing a lot of information
from these professors, and it's just honorable.
I feel honored.
[MUSIC PLAYING]