Degree: BA Political Science ’20
Minor: Criminal Justice
Co-op: Cybersecurity Co-Op, Comcast
Awards: A.J. Drexel Scholarship

Which element of your Drexel experience do you identify with most, and why?

The co-op program is what attracted me to Drexel, and it has definitely been the best experience of my college career. If I hadn’t transferred to Drexel, I would not be as experienced as my peers career wise. That is because previously, I was going to school and working 30 hours a week just to support myself. Drexel’s connections allowed me to interview with companies I otherwise would not have been able to. The support I have gotten through the co-op program has allowed me to dedicate time solely to developing myself professionally, and I could not be more thankful for that.

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This article previously appeared in Ask Magazine, a publication of the College of Arts and Sciences

Shahmar Beasley is a community leader in the truest sense. His internship experience — with two Pennsylvania state representatives, a Philadelphia judge and a criminal defense attorney — is matched only by his civic engagement. Between fundraising for underserved communities and studying for the LSAT exam, he also organized the Thomas R. Kline School of Law’s first District Attorney candidates debate as the past president of Drexel Democrats.

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This article appeared previously in the College of Arts and Sciences News section.

In 1999, I dropped out of college after one semester and needed to make a change in my life. I was a young person full of fear of the unknown. I found myself drawn to the Marine Corps — not only because my father was a Marine, but also because I thought the training and discipline would take that fear away from me.

I was part of the U.S. Marine Corps for nine years and deployed to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom. My time in the military was difficult, but fulfilling. I learned a lot about human potential. When you’re trying to achieve something, whether physically or mentally, your mind starts telling you at some point that you’re not capable of going any further.

Read More About John

This article appeared previously in the College of Arts and Sciences News section.

Outside a soccer stadium in Buenos Aires, 18-year-old Dakota Peterson and his youth academy teammates sat late into the evening. As Latin music drifted overhead, Peterson felt life pulling him — not toward a career in professional soccer, as he had once imagined, but toward one that would invoke a similar spirit of collaboration, leadership and global connectedness.

It was the start of a journey that would take the now-political-science major from the world’s top soccer academies to campaigns on the streets of Philadelphia and the halls of the U.S. Department of Labor.

Read More About Dakota

This article appeared previously in the College of Arts and Sciences News section.

In the Central Asian country of Kazakhstan, Caitlin Walczyk practiced her Russian in cab rides across the city of Almaty. In those conversations with locals, the double major in global studies and political science became intrigued by the relationship between language and cultural identity. Her experiences sparked a research project that would crisscross Central Asia and form the basis of both her senior thesis and her application for a Fulbright scholarship.

Read more about Caitlin