Kahleel Charles

Kahleel Charles

From working as an undergraduate research assistant with the help of graduate students Marjan Davoodi and Kerby Goff, I have exponentially increased my knowledge on being a researcher and topics related to Criminal Justice and Criminology. Being part of the Intergroup Hostility Project has allowed me to understand how different communities, whether it relates to their race, ethnicity, or religion, act on their good will or negative stereotypes towards Muslim-Americans. It gives me the chance to delve into the attitudes people have had for decades just from reading hundreds of articles. This research opportunity puts myself at a great advantage for the years I will be attending graduate school that leads to my future career as an intelligence analyst. During my sophomore year at Penn State, I wanted to be more involved in the school that would benefit my career experience. Thus, I looked for opportunities related to research with the help of Professor Kreager through the Criminal Justice Research Center. Fortunately, I was able to get a response for an interview and was hired within a short period of time. To this day, I enjoy qualitative coding hundreds of articles with the project. I would like to personally thank Marjan Davoodi and Professor John McCarthy for allowing me to partake in this experience. I highly recommend to everyone to consider being a research assistant. This will have a very positive impact for any career that is being pursued.