Every time Idil Omar comes to The University of Baltimore, she’s relishes in the inspiration of it all.
She sees a friendly, respectful community of students working toward their dream careers and of the professors dedicating their time and expertise to support them.
“I love it here. I just feel like I belong here,” she said.
It also fills the M.S. in Criminal Justice student with joy when she looks at the law center because it reminds her of what she’s working toward.
“I want to go to law school for many, many reasons. I think most people would say for justice, for holding society accountable. For me, it's more so making sure that women, like me or who come from different parts of the world, are seen as capable.”
There was a time when Idil was debating between becoming a lawyer or a neurosurgeon. She’s considered merging her dreams and working toward being a medical malpractice lawyer.
Currently, she’s pursuing her master’s in another field she’s deeply and increasingly enthusiastic about.
Idil started her program in fall 2025 and now hopes to join the law school. UBalt offers a dual-degree option for Criminal Justice graduate students to pursue the M.S. and J.D. degrees concurrently.
She’s particularly motivated in her quest because of her adviser and professor, Dr. Heather Pfeifer, who is helping her plan her pathway and who also is a source of inspiration for Idil.
“I feel like with her expertise and her help, it's easier for all of us to understand our curriculum and also understand why we choose this major,” Idil said. “She's supportive. She walks us through every single group exercise, every single statistics narrative or she walks us through every single project so that way we're not like falling behind.”
Idil appreciates that Pfeifer doesn’t make the work easy, and that makes doing it more fulfilling.
“She doesn't want you to get comfortable,” Idil said. “She wants you to understand what you're doing, because criminal justice is not just a major that is about memorization, but it's more so understanding different angles at the same time.”
In her courses, Idil has been reading articles and reviewing data that challenge what she thinks she knows and broadening her perspective. She has been analyzing Maryland state crime reports, reviewing the Baltimore city mayor’s plan for reducing crime, and considering how offenders shouldn’t be treated as offenders but as the humans they are. Particularly striking to Idil was the reports she read about violent crimes committed by 10-12-year-olds.
She knows if she keeps working, she could be part of the change.
“I want to be a part of something bigger,” she said. “I want to be a part of politics, like I want to be a part of change, especially for the youth or the upcoming generations.”
Idil is pursuing her own research efforts when she isn’t in class or working in UBalt’s Office of Student Support. Her research intersects criminal justice and interoception science, which explores how the mind and the body communicate.
“With psychology, we're understanding why people act the way they do, or their behaviors, but with interoception science, something just as small as a heart beating really fast can affect how you do your job, especially in criminal justice,” she said.
Idil feels at home at The University of Baltimore. A resident of the city, she loves being part of a university at its heart. She said she’s found support at every turn and tries to share what she’s learned with students she meets through her campus job to help her peers.
“I feel well supported like I've never been before,” Idil said. “It's just the fact that I feel like I'm empowered here, and I want to make an impact.”