Psych Student Profile: Danielle Scandiffio
This week’s student spotlight is Danielle Scandiffio, a junior in forensic psychology. She is also an active member of the psychology honor society, Psi Chi, here on campus.
Why did you choose Florida Institute of Technology?
The school had everything that I needed/wanted in a small school. The School of Psychology offered what I wanted to focus on as a major at the undergraduate level. The school offered me a financial package which also greatly helped in my decision to attend Florida Tech. The small class sizes were also a major selling point for me.
Why did you choose to study psychology?
Honestly, I was inspired to become a psychologist by one of my high school teachers, Mr. Dwyer. I took his intro to psychology class and he really made me fall in love with psychology. Once I learned more about what I could do with psychology, my interest shifted toward working with law enforcement. That is one of the reasons I chose to specify in forensic psychology.
What do you want to do once you graduate?
After completing my undergraduate degree, I intend to go to graduate school and focus more on crime analysis and law intelligence. After that, I would want to work for a government agency, preferably the Naval Criminal Investigative department or FBI. The CIA would be interesting as well, but I haven’t looked into the terrorism aspect of forensic psychology very much yet.
If you weren’t a psychology major, what would you be?
If I weren’t a forensic psychology major? I would still be a psychology major just specializing in a different field. I originally came to Florida Tech as a marine biology major, and ended up switching to general psychology specializing in animal behavior psychology, but that major still wouldn’t permit me to do the job I wanted to do. I love animals, but definitely didn’t want to work exclusively with them for the rest of my life. Even if I weren’t a forensic psychology major, I would definitely still be doing something with psychology.
Who is your favorite professor and why?
Mr. Marshall Jones. He’s done so many interesting things and tells lots of great stories about his career during his classes. He is also my advisor and does a great job helping me with where I want to be when I graduate. He is a fantastic professor who cares about his students and always teaches a class where I leave feeling like I’ve learned something.
What is your favorite thing about studying psychology at FIT?
How close-knit the psychology department is, and how supportive everyone is of each other. You get to know almost everyone in your department and fellow students are willing to help with research studies and ideas you’re working on. All of the professors (such as the aforementioned Mr. Marshall Jones) are super helpful and constantly expanding on their own research and encouraging students to do research as well.
