“All my life I wanted to be a cop,” said NYPD Police Officer Maria Pagan Sanchez. And after receiving her degree from Monroe College in June, 2005 and enrolling in the Police Academy a month later, she is now one of Monroe’s finest.

P.O. Sanchez says that not only did her Monroe College Criminal Justice education give her the credential to become an NYPD police officer, but it gave her life lessons on how to stay safe and be most effective while patrolling the 40th Precinct in the Bronx.

“In the NYPD we have CPR, Courtesy, Professionalism, and Respect,” she said. “Because of what I learned at Monroe about CPR, it’s the difference between having difficult street situations escalate and making people apologetic about causing a disturbance. Basically, at Monroe, I learned how to be a professional.”

“The fact is, Maria was one of the hardest working students I have ever seen,” said Criminal Justice Chairperson William McDonald, Ph.D. “Even though her husband was overseas in the military and she has children to care for, she kept her goals in front of her and didn’t quit until she had made it.”

P.O. Sanchez credits Monroe with helping her through some of those difficult times and she acknowledges that it wasn’t always easy. But the flexible scheduling and personal attention at Monroe helped her address those problems head on and she was able to persevere and see her dream job become reality.