Bria Howard knew what she wanted to study when she got to college, she just didn’t know where she would go.
Visiting The University of Baltimore’s campus removed any lingering uncertainty.
“I went to the open house with my grandma, and I told her literally the second we got on campus, ‘I think this is going to be the place for me,’” Howard said.
That was before she sat in her favorite classes. That was before she found her community in friendships, clubs and the veterans center. That was before she landed her dream internship. Every day at UBalt has been a reminder for Bria that she made the right choice.
“No matter who you are, what your background is, or what area or pathway of life that you wish to pursue, you can always find somebody that is rooting for you,” she said. “It's like a huge team of cheerleaders backing you on your journey.”
Bria transferred to UBalt from Howard Community College in fall 2024. She joined the B.S. in Forensic Studies program, focusing on forensic investigations.
Watching shows like Forensic Files and CSI with her mother piqued her interest in the possible career path.
As she grew older, Bria recognized how little her family understood the scopes and processes of the criminal justice system. A first-generation college student, she wanted to change that.
“In my head, I was like, well, I could be that person who goes to school and learns these things. Then I can bring that back to my family, or my community in general,” she said. “There are a lot of misconceptions, especially with police or with the legal system and how it treats specifically African Americans or minority populations. Instead of sitting here wondering why it's happening, I'll go learn why. I'll see what the problems are that could possibly be solved.”
At UBalt, Bria enjoyed the hands-on classes in her program. One of her favorite classes was Forensic Photography.
“That was really the moment where I was like, I'm going to remember this for a while, because not only am I learning the skills for crime scene work of how to take a picture of evidence and everything, but now I know how to take photos on a camera, which is actually pretty cool,” she said.
Her Interviews and Interrogations class gave her degree-focused skills while also teaching her a lot about effective communication. Both courses showed how engaging the learning process can be.
Bria appreciates how easily the classes fit around her busy schedule.
UBalt gave her flexibility so she could do everything she wanted to do and still leave room for the opportunities she didn’t expect, like jobs and internships.
As early as her orientation, Bria fell into a campus job opportunity.
She went to meet with Dena Allen-Few, coordinator for The Bob Parsons Veterans Center who helped Bria set up her finances at the start of the semester. Bria’s stepfather is a U.S. Army veteran, making Bria a dependent with eligibility to specialized funding and other services through UBalt’s veterans center.
During their exchange, Bria learned there were open positions in the center, allowing her to work between classes and other commitments.
“It was probably one of the best choices I could make because of how connected the veterans center is with every student-serving office on the campus,” Bria said. “It was Josiah [Guthland, center director] who recommended me to become an orientation leader, and that's how I got that role. And then through being orientation leader is how I heard about SGA and different clubs that I end up joining. The veterans center always will have a spot for me because it was the first home and the first community that I became a part of here.”
It wasn’t the first time conversation gave way to opportunity for Bria.
Another day on campus, Bria recalled, she happened upon Schaefer Center for Public Policy staff setting up an event for its NextGen Leaders for Public Service program. Her curiosity about it led her to an internship in the Office of the Public Defender for Baltimore’s Hargrove district court.
UBalt's Career and Internship Center led Bria to find her internship with the Baltimore Police Department. In her final semester at UBalt, she has been working in the homicide unit.
Mainly, she’s focused on researching the focused deterrence model—a policing strategy that emphasizes direct communication of consequences while pairing social services—and its potential application to combat domestic violence cases.
Part of the internship also involves shadowing officers and learning about firearms and drug analysis, and data-driven analytics.
“It's really opened up my perspective on the police department,” Bria said. “Knowing that I can go up to officers and have honest, one-on-one conversations to get their perspective on stuff that has happened in the city, how they feel about the model and the culture and conduct of their police department and relevance to the community, really just encourages a thing that I believe, which is that sometimes each side isn't hearing each other's perspective, and then they don't understand how to find a common ground.”
The internship came at an ideal time for Bria. As she’s worked through the forensic studies program, she’s become increasingly interested in law.
Bria was accepted into the Fannie Angelos Program for Academic Excellence. The program grants a pathway for students toward the law profession through scholarships based on merit.
The program is helping Bria with LSAT prep, so she can step closer toward her new dream to go to law school.
“It just all connects,” she said. “If I want to understand a system, I want to understand the workings at every level until we get to that final outcome.”
Bria hopes she can return to UBalt for law school but knows the University will always hold a special place in her life long after she graduates.
“Even if you leave UBalt, UBalt's never going to leave you, because you're always going to remember that warmth that comes from knowing all of these people want to see me succeed, and all these people are giving me the tools to succeed,” she said. “And I think, especially with us going into public service, it's like, if they poured into me, I want to pour into my community the same exact way.”