Criminal Justice Studies internship highlight: Ella Fies

Many criminal justice studies students opt to pursue internships that provide exposure to professions in the field, including careers in law enforcement, the legal system, crime data analysis, clinical settings and more. This feature highlights the internships of criminal justice studies minors.

Criminal Justice Studies minor Ella Fies '19 began interning at the Guilford County Department of Juvenile Justice last summer and has continued her work there throughout the fall semester. Her internship was advised by Phil Miller, lecturer in human service studies.

Of her experience, Fies says:

"Through this internship, I spent all of my time sh

adowing different court counselors in Alamance County, North Carolina. I would attend weekly court hearings with the counselors, shadow home visits and intake meetings, visit clients at residential placements, observe JCPC meetings, and much more. Every day was different and I, therefore, was always learning something new about the job. As an intern, I was asked to review and compile multiple juvenile case files simultaneously. I read many cases and helped file them in the proper manner.

"As an intern, I started a girls group with juveniles on probation (that met on Tuesdays) as well as with girls detained in the Guilford County Detention Center (that met on Thursdays). This group provided me with a deep sense of fulfillment and I am grateful for the support of the court counselors in Graham for helping this project come to fruition. I facilitated meetings on my own and plan for each one mindful of who was attending each week." 

Are you a criminal justice studies minor hoping to pursue an internship in a related field? Contact Debby Wall, director of internships at walldebb@elon.edu or (336) 278-6538.

Are you a criminal justice studies minor who would like to have your recent or ongoing criminal justice studies-related internship highlighted in this feature? Contact Rena Zito, coordinator of the Criminal Justice Studies program, at rzito@elon.edu.