My name is Claribel Mariani and I am 18 years old. I am currently attending New York City College of Technology, CUNY (City Tech). When people have asked me the question of what I want to do, career wise, I have always hesitated. I was so confused to because there were so many things I wanted to do. I am currently majoring in Computer Systems Technology, however I will soon change it to Biomedical Informatics because it has more of what I want as a career. The career I have chosen to pursue is to be a forensic science technician. I know majoring in Biomedical Informatics is not the ideal major to pursue this career but it is the closest major that City Tech has to give me some of the needed requirements I need. I will eventually transfer to John Jay College of Criminal Justice to change my major to Forensic Science and ultimately reach all my necessary requirements to become a forensic science technician. I am excited about pursuing this career because it will give me the chance to fulfill something I have always dreamed of, it lets me put my problem solving skills to the test and because it allows me to help people in ways that benefit us both. In this essay I will discuss the following topics: I will provide some background about being a forensic science technician, I will explain my reasons for choosing this major, and I will tell you more about how I plan to excel in my major and future career.

Being a forensic science technician and studying Biomedical Informatics and Forensic Science takes a lot of hard work and dedication. Before I start discussing being a forensic science technician, I must talk about the majors and the necessary requirements needed before becoming one. As I had stated earlier, the major that I intend to study here at City Tech is Biomedical Informatics from the Biological Sciences Department. According to the New York City College of Technology College Catalog 2015-2016, “The Biomedical Informatics baccalaureate program is interdisciplinary training for a new generation of biomedical and healthcare workers prepared to meet the challenges of today and the future.” (College Catalog, 77). This meaning that the main focus of the program is to train a new generation of people to take over the biomedical and healthcare system. To give them a better grasp of what they are going up against. My major is going to give me the ability to understand everything that will be going on in my career. Biomedical Informatics contains a variety of different courses that need to be taken in order to accomplish this program. It handles with of course Biology, Microbiology, Nutrition, Biochemistry, etc. It also helps with finding an internship within the field. After a few semesters at City Tech, I will transfer to John Jay College of Criminal Justice. I will then change my major to Forensic Science. This will allow me to gain the necessary requirements I need to graduate with a Forensic Science major and go into the career I want.

As I said before I would like to be a forensic science technician. Being a forensic science technician takes a lot of hard work and dedication. They have to deal with all sorts of things like walking on to a crime scene and seeing dead bodies and other types of gory images up close and personal.  To get the idea of what exactly a forensic science technician does let us refer to Department of Labor: Occupational Outlook Handbook, where it states, “[f]orensic science technicians help investigate crimes by collecting and analyzing physical evidence. Many technicians specialize in either crime scene investigation or laboratory analysis. Most forensic science technicians spend time writing reports.” (U.S. 10) This explains all that forensic science technicians do in a nut shell. They gather all the needed information they can from wherever they get it from and analyze it in their labs or on the spot depending on what tools they have with them at the time. A forensic science technician can work in several fields. One field and the most common for many would be crime scene investigation teams, which is the field I want to work in. These are the people that show up to the scene of a crime and gather the needed evidence to help solve the case. Without the forensic science technician nothing would really get done because it would be hard to get a lead. According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, in 2012 the average forensic science technician made $52,840/ $25.41 per hour. This career require a Bachelor’s Degree as an education entry level and no experience is needed. According to Susan Reese, the top ten percent of forensic science technicians earned over $85,210 in 2012. (Susan, 58) The top ten percent of forensic science technicians, top ten percent having to do with experience and seniority, are paid more than most forensic science technicians. Overtime depending on how long you have worked with the organization or  in this case the governmental crime scene investigation unit you get paid more or even on how well of a forensic science technician.

My major of Biomedical Informatics/ Forensic Science and my career path of being a forensic science technician have been a dream of mine for many years now. One reason why I want to be involved in this would be because it is something I have always dreamed of. Yes I went through my phases of wanting to be something else like a chef or even a doctor but my heart belongs to forensic science. I enjoy learning about the human body and it just intrigues me with all the things that it can do. Studying biomedical informatics has shown me so much more than I had expected. It has explained why our body does certain things and the result of things happening with the use of chemistry and biology intermingled. Being a forensic science technician has been my dream since I was 12. Yes that is not a long time ago but ever since I was introduced to it from watching it on television it has done nothing but given me the curiosity to research more about it and fall in love with it more and more. I have been told before that the television shows are not accurate at that they are far from what really happens in those fields but that is why I have closely researched what goes on and see if there is a similarity between the two. The only difference that I find that stands out between real life forensic science technicians and the ones on television are that they do not have the advanced technology that the television shows have. Other than that they are as similar as can be.

Another reason for me wanting to pursue this career is because I love problem solving and that is exactly what this major and career inspired me to pursue it. When it comes to finding the solution to a situation I love having to do extensive research to figure it out. The fact that a forensic science technician does extensive research to figure out a case and bring some type of closure to a situation or a person makes it a thousand times better. Forensic science technicians provide a sense of relief when they complete their job and that is exactly how I want someone to feel. Problem solving especially in this field is a lot of work but your brain is constantly learning. When you do extensive research on something you keep on searching more and more until you come down to the one thing that you are looking for. Believe it or not that information stays with you because you are constantly looking at it and rereading it.

My final reason for choosing this career path is because it benefits me and the people I am trying to help. When I say this I mean that me doing my job would help the person or persons that I am trying to solve the case for. Me figuring out the little problems and putting all the clues together help give the person I am solving this for some type of closure. Helping people is another reason why I signed up for all of this. I love changing the way someone feels for the better. It pulls a smile on my face knowing that I have helped someone whether it was directly or indirectly. Forensic science technicians are pretty much professional puzzle solvers. They fill in the gaps that no one else can see and allow things to be seen more clearly by everyone else. Even if they had more work to do then it seemed. This is the main reason I will wake up every day and enjoy going to work. To know that I have helped someone in the way I did will just be motivation for me to continue.

My dream of being a forensic science technician has come from so much. I plan to do so much in the next four years. My major in Biomedical Informatics and then transfer to John Jay to major in Forensic Science is only the beginning of my journey. I plan to do an internship while still in college and this internship will be the start of me accomplishing my dream. I plan to not only get my bachelor’s degree but also my master’s in forensic science because I want to broaden my knowledge of what I can use to excel in my career. In the next five to ten years I plan on either still being in college continuing my education and also working close to a crime scene investigation unit even if it just is an internship. As long as I do reach my goal and become a forensic science technician I will be happy and content with everything else.

Works Cited

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S.  Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2014-15 Edition, Forensic Science Technicians, Web. 22 Oct. 2015

Karthikeyan, Laina. “Biological Sciences: Biomedical Informatics” New York City College of Technology College Catalog 2015-16 n.p. Web. 8 Nov. 2015

Reese, Susan. “Forensic Science Technician.” Techniques: Connecting Education and Career. 90.4 (2015): 58-9. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 Nov. 2015.