University of Pennsylvania Criminology
Shujing Shi | University of Pennsylvania Criminology | Durham University
听听Shujing与大家分享她在犯罪学领域的实践：Shujing’s PinUp
听听Shujing与大家分享她在犯罪学领域的实践：Shujing’s PinUp
People are interesting
Shujing had done military service before she attended university. From this special experience, she has learnt a lot from her observations on different people.
“During the military service, I had to work with very different people. I found that each person is an interesting complex and so are the interactions between them. And I’m curious about how they think and behave. I guess that is one of the critical factors that led to my choice of criminology as my major. Another reason is that I really wanted to learn something cool, something uncommon.”
Learn from an unsatisfied internship
Shujing has accumulated much practical experience in the field of criminology. And from her research and internship, she has built a cross-cultural understanding of criminological policy under different political systems.
“I had an unsatisfying internship in my hometown. I found that in local police stations, some of the officers had no sense of responsibility, and I felt bad about my internship. But this didn’t extinguish my passion for the field, of course. Now I assume that every experience is a valuable observation on the reality of the field, from which I would learn something.”
Do not compromise
Criminology is not a popular major in most of the top graduate schools in the U.S. When thinking about the direction of her graduate study, Shujing planned to choose some other majors of social sciences to get into top schools. But her mentor from in-maginative suggested that she should stick to her initial interest.
“Thanks to Seth, I was able to talk with a professor in this area when I was about to decide my application. The mentor chose very different majors during his several stages of studies. And he told me that instead of getting into top schools, it’s more critical to dig deep into one area. Then I made my decision and just focused on criminology programs. And I made it to UPenn, without compromising.”
Essay is all about matching
Shujing has learnt from her essay development with in-maginative. She used to consider an essay as a detailed personal report showing everything of herself to the school. But now she has a new understanding.
“Through my essay writing and refining process, I realized that these writing materials are opportunities to state the connection between the programs and me. And the statements are techniques in organizing and expressing. Like in graduate school application, the essay is all about how to match myself to the school.”
人很有趣
Shujing在上大学之前服了兵役。通过这段特别的经历，她从对不同人的观察中收获了许多。 “在当兵期间，我需要跟许多非常不同的人打交道。我意识到每个人都是有趣而复杂的个体，人和人之间的互动也很有趣。而且，我对人们如何思考和行动十分好奇。我觉得这可能是导致我选择犯罪学专业的一个重要的影响因素。另一个原因是我非常想学一个很酷、很不寻常的专业。”
从不太满意的实习经历中学习
Shujing在犯罪学领域里积累了许多实践经验。通过她的研究经历和实习经验，她对于不同政体下的犯罪学政策有了综合的理解。 “我在我的老家有过一段不太愉快的实习。我发现当地的警察局里有些警察好像在‘吃白饭’，我也觉得我实习本身挺没意思的。但这段经历没有浇灭我对犯罪学的热情。我现在觉得每段经历都是对领域现状的直接观察，而我能从中多多少少学到点什么。”
不要妥协
犯罪学在美国顶尖研究生院不算主流专业。Shujing在规划她的研究生申请时，也曾考虑为了进顶尖高校选择其他社会科学方向的专业。但她在in-maginative的顾问建议她执着于自己的兴趣。 “因为Seth的帮助，我在决定自己的申请方向时和一位犯罪学教授交流。这位导师自己在本科、研究生、博士阶段选择了不同的专业。他跟我说，比起进入名牌学校，更重要的是深入地在一个领域钻研。后来我决定只专注于犯罪学的项目申请。最后我也在没有妥协的情况下，拿到了UPenn的录取。”
文书在于匹配
Shujing在和in-maginative一起发展文书的过程学到了很多。她曾认为文书就是把自己剖析给学校看的个人报告，但现在她有了新认识。 “在文书写作和优化的过程中，我意识到，这些写作材料是陈述我和项目之间的种种联系的机会，陈述也需要组织和表达上的一定的技巧。和申请学校一样，写文书也是在于强调我如何与学校匹配。”