Princess Dyer
Criminal Justice and Psychology, BS
2022
There are two pivotal reasons why Princess Dyer became interested in law. One, at age 9, she was intrigued after learning how her grandmother went through the U.S. naturalization process, and two, she loved playing the board game Clue. An Ohio native, she had never heard of Northeastern University before, but when she learned more about the opportunities, research, and faculty network waiting at the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, she knew she had found the program she wanted to be in.
Princess’s combined major in criminal justice and psychology allows her to look at cases and answer questions of why things happened the way that they did, considering psychological processes and behavior.
In her first year, she volunteered with Jumpstart and worked with students in low income preschools, an experience that reminded her of her passion for mentorship and representing marginalized communities.
In 2018, she took Criminal Due Process with Professor Roderick Ireland, which led her to visit courts, hear from attorneys, and sit in on cases. It only reconfirmed her passion for law.
The following semester, she was an office assistant at the NUSL co-op office. She thrived under the guidance of her advisors who encouraged her to learn about the opportunities for law students.
She became a peer mentor for criminal justice and psychology majors, using her academic expertise in both the majors and her personal interest in mentorship to help other students navigate their work.
While taking Criminal Justice Research Methods with Professor Russell Wolff, she proposed a research plan on social media and legal proceedings and hopes to pursue it in the future.
Her first co-op was at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston as a legal support intern where she worked with paralegals and attorneys through trial prep, witness meetings, and mock hearings.
In the same semester, she was accepted as a member of Alpha Phi Sigma, the only Criminal Justice Honor Society accredited by the Association of College Honor Societies.
She took Psychology of Crime in Fall 2020, led by PhD student Andrea Wexler, and was blown away by how it played directly to her interests by combining criminal justice research topics and psychology.
Princess wants to work as a public defender in the future, intending to start law school right after graduation, knowing her experiential education and skills from NU has helped solidify her passion.
“[My co-op] has already helped a lot, considering I’m pursuing a law and public policy minor, too. I feel like having the background knowledge, like, I know exactly how a paralegal works through this discovery, that’s been really helpful, just knowing the behind the scenes of how things are actually working.”
