Karlie Foster, an alumni of HFM Career and Technical Education (CTE), returned to campus recently to speak with students in the Criminal Justice program and share her success.
Foster, a 2018 graduate of Northville Central School, told students that she always aspired to become a police officer, which was the reason she chose to enroll in the Criminal Justice program. After graduation from high school she continued her pursuit of a career in law enforcement, but soon learned that it was not the career path she desired.
Instead, Foster decided to join the Air National Guard. Today she is a Senior Airman and a member of the 2nd Civil Support Team based at Stratton Air National Guard Base in Scotia. In her role on the Civil Support Team, Foster is tasked with supporting civil authorities in the event of the use, or threatened use, of a weapon of mass destruction.
She says that although her childhood dreams didn’t go as planned, she still values the criminal justice background and education she obtained from her CTE experience.
“It was still very helpful. Today I work hand-in-hand with law enforcement, and even though I’m not doing law enforcement type work, per se, it just gave me an overall understanding of what their (law enforcement) processes are like, what their mindset may be, and what their day-to day job is, so i can curtail my training or response to fit their needs,” stated Foster.
At the end of her presentation, Foster encouraged students to continue chasing their dreams.
“If you’re going to go to college, that’s great, keep going to school. If you want to get out in the workforce, get those applications in,” she stated. “Don’t take breaks and be flexible. You have to look for those opportunities yourself. No one is going to come along and hand you a job.”
