Remy Heinen to plans to continue exploring criminal justice in the Ole Miss master’s program.
Remy Heinen is getting ready to pursue her dreams of problem solving and giving back to the community through a career in law enforcement.
Watching crime shows and reading mystery books sparked Heinen’s interest in majoring in criminal justice because she wanted to learn more about how everything works in this field. One of the main things that piqued her interest to pursue a major in criminal justice was simply because it can be applied in many ways, the University of Mississippi senior said.
“There are so many careers that fall within the umbrella of criminal justice, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to pursue something that interested me and would also provide a lot of flexibility in career paths after graduation,” said Heinen, a member of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College who is graduating with a double major in criminal justice and Spanish.
It was in high school that Heinen discovered a passion for Spanish, and she wanted to be bilingual because it would allow her to communicate with a larger group of people. She chose to pursue a second language because she can connect people with the proper resources that they need.
I’ve learned so much from the ISS program and I think it does a wonderful job preparing students for careers in the intelligence community.
“Since communicating with the community is such a key aspect of law enforcement, I think it’s important to emphasize the importance of being able to communicate with all community members, not just those who speak English,” she said. “It’s difficult for law enforcement to adequately serve their communities if they don’t have the capability to communicate with everyone in them.”
Heinen originally had thoughts of just minoring in Spanish because being bilingual would make her a more competitive candidate.
“However, after I had class with Señora Koeneman, I realized it was something I was actually very passionate about, and I knew that I wanted to continue my Spanish education beyond high school,” she said.
Along with her double major, Heinen is minoring in intelligence and security studies, and she said that she first learned about the program after moving to campus for Honors Welcome Week.
“I signed up for an interest meeting because I thought it sounded like something that could work well with my criminal justice degree and help prepare me for a career in federal law enforcement,” she said. “I’ve learned so much from the ISS program and I think it does a wonderful job preparing students for careers in the intelligence community.”
Heinen did a study comparing the campus sexual assault policies of each university within the Southeastern Conference for her honors thesis. She said she made sure that her topic is something that she is passionate about to help keep her motivated as she completed it.
“I chose to look at the policy aspect because there have been several changes to federal Title IX guidelines in recent years that impact the process for handling reports of misconduct,” Heinen said.
Her future career aspirations are to work for the FBI or the DEA, and she credits the TV drama “Criminal Minds” for her interest in this major. After coming to Ole Miss, Heinen learned about the plethora of career paths in criminal justice that she did not consider beforehand.
“All three of my programs could help me with a variety of careers, whether I want to work in more of a law enforcement, analyst or translator capacity,” Heinen said.
Heinen credits the criminal justice program for being well-rounded.
“There are so many complex moving parts in the justice system, and I think the structure of the program does a great job of breaking down how everything works and demonstrating how it impacts other aspects of the process,” she said.
“The criminal justice program is perfect for a wide range of students – from those who know exactly what they want to do to those who have no idea what they want to do – because it encourages students who have a set path in mind to examine and understand other aspects of the justice system, and it allows students who don’t have a specific career in mind to try a little bit of everything and see what they enjoy the most.”
Pursuing a master’s degree never crossed Heinen’s mind until she was encouraged to apply by her thesis adviser, Linda Keena, an associate professor of criminal justice and legal studies. This sparked Heinen to look further into how a master’s in criminal justice would benefit her in her career.
“Since I would like to work at the federal level in some capacity and the application process is very competitive, I decided that I could make myself a stronger applicant and be more prepared with a deeper understanding of criminal justice topics if I earned a master’s,” Heinen said.
She chose the Ole Miss master’s program because she enjoyed the undergraduate program.
“Another factor that motivated me to apply was the possibility of serving in a GA position and working more closely with the faculty,” Heinen said. “I really enjoyed the professors I had during my time here and I was excited about the prospect of working with them and learning more about their experiences with careers in criminal justice.”
Wes Jennings, professor and chair of the Department of Criminal Justice and Legal Studies, praised Heinen for being an outstanding student who excelled in her coursework.
“Her honors thesis committee was impressed with her command of the literature, critical thinking and analysis,” Jennings said. “She easily emerged as a top recruit for our master’s in criminal justice program, and we are thrilled she has accepted our admission offer and our offer to join the department as a graduate assistant in fall 2022.”
By Cameron Smith, School of Applied Sciences
