Colleen McKeever is a John A. Reisenbach Scholar at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. The Reisenbach Scholarship supports John Jay graduate students who are committed to advancing public safety and quality of life in New York City.
Being a part of the Reisenbach Scholars Program is an honor and has given me the ability to pursue my goals. Actually, applying to John Jay was a last minute decision for me. Weeks before I graduated with a Bachelor’s in Sociology concentrating in Criminology from SUNY New Paltz, I was struggling with my decision about what to do next, to take me to a place I wanted to be in my career.
It didn’t take long until I decided to apply to the MA Forensic Mental Health Counseling Program here at John Jay. I went into the FMHC program still undecided on my ultimate career goal.
After being in the program for about a year, I knew I made the right choice to pursue a master’s degree in forensic counseling. This decision was solidified when I was accepted in the Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Hospital Externship Program in 2014. This program was my first experience with real exposure as a young adult in this field. It gave me the opportunity to put to use all the information and skills I was learning in my courses at John Jay.
After this experience (as well as my experience as an extern at the Kings County Forensic Clinic) I have decided to apply to doctorate programs in hopes of becoming a licensed psychologist specializing in forensics.
I would like to work in an environment, like Kirby, as a licensed forensic psychologist working with mentally ill offenders.
For more information visit John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
