Samantha Hamburg, a fourth-year Criminal Justice major with minors in Leadership and Human Capital, was thrilled when she received a co-op offer from the United States Attorney’s Office in New York for the spring of 2023 cycle. Wanting to attend law school after graduating Northeastern in hopes of becoming a criminal defense attorney, she eagerly accepted the offer and started planning her move to New York. Not long after starting the position, Samantha realized she would be spending more money over the next six months than she had initially expected. Thankfully, with her family’s support, she pulled through.
Samantha is what she calls “technically a first generation college student”; her father and sister didn’t complete college, and her mother chose to end her education after getting her associate’s degree. Northeastern holds a special place for the entire Hamburg family. They were impressed by the university’s co-op program immediately upon learning about it when they were touring the school, and have since been all the more impressed seeing the breadth of experiences Samantha has had during her time here. Samantha’s father continues to visit every Parent’s Weekend, even as his daughter goes into her fourth and final year and is no longer living on campus. “I don’t think any parent does this after freshman year,” Samantha jokes.
Samantha’s family runs the Hamburg Foundation, which hosts annual events to raise money for charities and organizations that have become important to them over the years. As Samantha was taking the Co-op Work Experience course and later, when she was later applying to co-ops, she learned that several of the positions available to students who were interested in exploring criminal justice were unpaid. Speaking with some of her classmates, she learned that many of them were offered the positions they dreamed about but, because these positions were unable to pay them, these students had to decline the offers. Thinking about the challenges of students working full-time without making any money, who also had to move to and pay rent in New York, she brought the dilemma to her family to see if there was something they could do to help these students financially.
There was. Samantha’s family donated a significant amount of money to Northeastern’s School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, all of which is going toward providing financial assistance to Criminology and Criminal Justice students who are taking unpaid co-ops. Students who accept such a co-op may apply for help and, if their request is approved, are granted a sum of money to use for housing, transportation, and other costs they may encounter throughout the co-op.
“Our family firmly believes that no one’s desire to learn and contribute to their community should be limited by a lack of resources or financial means. We hope that our gift serves as a small step in empowering others to reach their full potential and make a meaningful impact.”
– Samantha Hamburg
