Casey Tisdale
By Juliana Scheiderer ’16
Many people enjoy watching the adventures of the characters on Criminal Minds, but junior Casey Tisdale wants to live them.
A Sociology-Criminology and Psychology double major, Tisdale hopes to one day become a behavioral analyst for the FBI.
“I want to find and hunt down serial killers,” she said. “If that doesn’t work, I’ll be a lawyer.”
Tisdale is also obtaining a certificate in Law, Justice and Culture to focus her education in criminal justice and the law. Her extra-curricular activities all center on this interest, as well. She’s a student worker in the Center for Law, Justice and Culture, an executive board member of Ohio University Mock Trial, and a member of both Students Defending Students and Phi Alpha Delta, the pre-law fraternity.
As if this didn’t keep her busy enough, Tisdale is also receiving a minor in French. She says she originally wanted to connect her language skills to potential FBI work.
“My goal was to be a translator for the FBI. But they don’t take romance languages so that was out,” Tisdale explained.
Tisdale says she can think of many other ways to incorporate French into her life.
“I know I’m definitely going to teach my future kids French. I’ll say ‘Hello!’ but then I’ll also say ‘Bonjour!’” Tisdale said “I also want to live in France and get a job in France.”
Your Brain On French
Tisdale already has a head start on her goal of living in France. After high school, she traveled throughout the country independently, by train.
“I was primarily in Paris, and I was there for Bastille Day which is like their Fourth of July. I also went to Versailles and Nice,” Tisdale said. “That was my senior year trip. You know how some people go to Myrtle Beach? I went to Europe instead.”
Going abroad is an important experience in a young person’s life, according to Tisdale. She explains it is highly beneficial for students to experience other cultures.
“For me, it was great just to be able to speak to people in French, get conversation experience with actual French people and get exposed to all the different accents,” she explained.
This language practice can help your brain in other ways, according to Tisdale.
“It makes your brain work in a different way, which is amazing. Like I won’t even be thinking about French and I’ll see something in French and understand it. I’ll see words in English and think ‘I wouldn’t have known that without French,’” Tisdale explained. “It just gives you more complex thinking abilities because you’re thinking in two languages.”
French in the Global Marketplace
Tisdale explains that learning French, specifically, will be beneficial to students in the future. In addition to broadening students’ minds, studying the language will prove valuable in an increasingly global marketplace.
“French is a great language,” Tisdale said. “It’s one of the most spoken in the world, and it’s on track to be the most widely spoken language. If you want to go anywhere in Africa or north to Canada or to France, they speak French.”
But, Tisdale jokes, there is one more reason students should pick up French and travel abroad.
“Go to France to enjoy food from the culture. That’s the biggest reason you should go anywhere, to enjoy the food.”
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