Paris DeFilippis '25 couldn't believe where life had taken her – to the back of an agent's car, just before sunrise, watching as people with badges executed a search warrant. Paris was destined to go to law school and be an attorney. But this? This was awesome.
"I was super excited, but also a little nervous. I wore a bulletproof vest. Driving there, it just felt surreal. I just kept thinking, 'I'm part of this.' It was mind-blowing to be on that side of it."
Paris has wanted to be a lawyer for as long as she can remember, but at the suggestion of Kristy Luhr, director of the MacDonnell Career and Internship Center, she attended a Women in Law Enforcement networking event last year.
Paris met with Matthew Scarpino, special agent in charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security. He was impressed with her resume, then stunned when she handed him a business card. The Malta office of Homeland Security doesn't have an internship program, per se. No internship would have been posted online, and there would have been no active recruitment. But, they kept an eye out, through events like this, for special candidates.
Following an extensive background check, Paris recently began her internship with the local office of Homeland Security Investigations. On day one, she met with an agent at 5:20 a.m., slipped on the bullet proof vest, then waited in the agent's car until the suspect was arrested and the scene was secured.
Paris is alternating between action in the field, and investigation work in the office. She's training on different systems, learning to navigate databases and scour through footage lifted from surveillance systems.
"I've learned so much in the past couple of weeks. I'm grateful to all of the agents. They're so welcoming, and it's been an incredible environment. They're eager to teach me. It's exactly what you want out of an internship."
Paris has shadowed agents pursuing organized crime, child exploitation, human trafficking, and she's only getting started. The goal was always law school, and Paris hasn't wavered. But with this experience, she's reconsidering what she might do with her law degree.
"I'm now looking into what intelligence careers are out there. There's a lot I could do with a law degree, and there are different routes available in the intelligence community. I was dead set on being a lawyer, but with this internship, I might be changing my mind."
Paris DeFilippis '25
