Discovering Purpose After Uncertainty

For many students, college isn’t a linear process—it’s a winding road full of opportunities for personal growth that hopefully leads to discovering one’s purpose. 

At least, that’s how it was for psychology graduate Adam Levine ’24. He was initially drawn to DeSales after learning of its exploratory studies program.

“Coming into college without a major was a bit stressful,” Levine admitted. “But I thought the exploratory studies program gave students a great opportunity to experience different courses and get to know themselves better.” 

After sampling multiple fields of study, Levine found himself fascinated by psychology. At first, he identified his main interest as addiction psychology and substance abuse recovery. However, a passion for forensic psychology eventually took center stage, thanks to a unique experiential learning opportunity.

“Through my internship at the Petzold Lab, I had the opportunity to observe how criminal incidents are investigated. Getting to see firsthand how digital forensics plays a role in trying to solve many criminal incidents has been very interesting.” -Adam Levine ’24 

Levine capitalized on DeSales’ Five-Year Bachelor’s to Master’s Criminal Justice program, taking three master’s level classes during his senior year. For him, the program offered a seamless transition into the next phase of his academic journey, all within the comforting embrace of the University's familiar environment and esteemed faculty.

Once he has both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in hand, Levine’s goal is to help crime victims see justice. 

“I have always felt comfortable trying to help people,” said Levine, as evidenced by his past roles as a lifeguard supervisor, camp counselor, and Special Olympics basketball coach. “By helping victims of crimes seek justice, I can hopefully help those victims gain some sort of sense of closure and show them the effectiveness of the criminal justice system.”