A conversation with the father of one of his baseball teammates led to a unique summer
internship for Adam White.
White, a criminal justice major at Southwest Baptist University, completed an internship with the United States Postal Inspection Service and had the opportunity to assist the inspectors in a variety of ways this summer.
“Sorting and re-mailing stolen mail that had been recovered was something I would do a few times a week,” Adam said. “I was able to help gather information on certain people of interest by the use of databases the inspectors have access to. This included gathering all the information I could that would be relevant to finding the person we were looking for.”
Adam said the classes he has taken at SBU with Dr. Matt Rice, assistant professor of criminal justice, helped prepare him for what he would learn during his internship.
“Giving me the overview in the criminal justice system was a good start going in,” Adam said of his SBU coursework. “Throughout my internship, I was able to learn a lot about what the inspection service (USPIS) does. The inspectors that I worked with were very willing to allow me to get in on what they were working on and showing me the ropes.
“I learned how the inspection service can track packages being sent via USPS and have a good idea if drugs or money are being sent back and forth. I was able to learn a lot about the intercommunication between Federal agencies and how being able to work cases with other agencies can speed up the process of reaching certain goals.”
The support and guidance Adam received from Dr. Rice was key to securing the internship, for which he earns course credit, in a career Adam plans to pursue.
“I really enjoyed my time during this internship and feel like I was able to see and learn many things that I may have never had to opportunity to see otherwise. My main hope is that through this internship and the relationships that I was able to make, that it will help me to land a job in my field of study.”