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Unity College Female Students Excel in Conservation Law Enforcement 

It has long been a well verified truth at Unity College that female students are well suited to excel as both Conservation Law Enforcement majors and professionals in the field.  The success of current Conservation Law Enforcement students and alumnae has also shown Unity to be a great place for females to reach for their law enforcement career dreams.

From gracing the cover of Unity, the Magazine of Unity College, to winning state titles in competitive archery, Amanda Hardaswick ’07, Conservation Law Enforcement, has never turned down the opportunity promote the College she loves or indulge her competitive nature. 

In mid-October, Hardaswick was busy unpacking and arranging to have a photo taken in her new uniform for CommUnity Connections, Unity’s alumni newspaper.  On October 4th, Hardaswick graduated from the 18 week Land Management Police Training Program at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia.  She is now in field training for a career she had dreamed of pursuing since childhood.
    
She will soon become a Federal Law Enforcement Officer with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
    
Hardaswick grew up in the small town of Oxford, Connecticut.  Her family was very focused on the outdoors and pursued a host of outdoor activities including camping, hiking, kayaking, fishing, hunting and snowmobiling.  “I was about 13-years-old when I decided what I wanted to do when I grew up,” Hardaswick explained.  “It was a cold day in February and my family and I were snowmobiling in Vermont.  I met a Forest Ranger from the United States Forest Service patrolling the snowmobiling trails on a work issued snowmobile.  That was when I found my dream job.”
    
At Nonnewaug High School she took part in the Vocational Agriculture Program.  Most of her classes centered on conservation.  “In high school I was involved in everything possible and kept taking courses outside of school to build my résumé,” Hardaswick explained.  “I started looking into colleges and found that Unity College offered a 4-year program in Conservation Law Enforcement.  I applied to a few colleges but knew my heart was set on Unity.”
    
As a student at Unity, Hardaswick continued to add to her résumé by taking as many classes as possible.  She even pursued off campus training options on numerous occasions.  “I got certified in everything I could,” Hardaswick said.  During summer vacations she worked for the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection for Osbornedale State Park Unit as a Park Ranger. 
    
“Junior year I applied for and was accepted as a Student Trainee in the Student Career Experience Program with the United States fish and Wildlife Service,” Hardaswick said.  “I knew that if I continued to work hard I would have my dream job upon graduation from college.”
     
Hardaswick offers high praise for the Conservation Law Enforcement program and Unity College in general.
    
“Without Unity College I would not be where I am today,” she said.  “I could have sat through all of my classes and passed.  However, that does not separate you from anyone else.  Unity College offers many opportunities but you have to take every one and put forth the effort to stand out among the rest.”
    
“All of the faculty and staff members go above and beyond what is necessary to help you succeed,” Hardaswick added.  “It is never too early to set goals for yourself.  You are the only person that can stand in the way of obtaining your goals.”

Formanski 
Formanski on a pony run
    
Claire Formanski of Sound Beach, New York, anticipated ’07 Conservation Law Enforcement graduate in December, is on track to immediately follow the same path that Hardaswick took to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia.  In fact, it was Formanski’s deep desire to forge a career at the federal level that led her to pursue significant training that put her on pace to graduate in December of 2007, rather than in May of 2007.  The extra experience that Formanski will have gained, giving her leg up to the prize, training at Glynco, she believes will validate this decision as the right one.
    
Formanski is a strong believer in the value of preparation and personal challenge.  Just as Hardaswick took as many opportunities as possible to distinguish herself, so too has Formanski taken the steep path.  She believes that in the end, taking the more challenging path will lead to the place of greatest reward.
     
Like most Conservation Law Enforcement majors, Formanski knew what she wanted to do early on.  “When I was 13, I started volunteering at Fire Island National Seashore in New York,” Formanski said.  “I grew up on the beach and loved it, but this got me into conservation law enforcement.  I was the horse patrol volunteer, so I did mounted horseback patrol throughout the area.”
    
She continued pursuing gaining similar experiences.  In high school she was a National Honor Society student, played varsity volleyball, was in the marching band and pursued intramural sports. 
    
“I discovered Unity College in the 11th grade after I took my SAT,” Formanski said.  “They sent me an outreach piece in the mail.”  Once she learned about the Conservation Law Enforcement program and compared it to the few others offered in the United States, she knew her next stop would be Unity College.
    
At Unity she found challenge.
    
“I have always been a disciplined person, but I learned to accept an occasional B,” Formanski said. “Professor expectations may be sometimes higher than what you expected or even wanted.  The point is that they push you because they expect the best, especially in the Con Law classes.”
    
Formanski pursued some dream internships, each of which would be another piece of the puzzle leading to the ultimate prize of training at Glynco, Georgia.
    
During the summer of 2005 Formanski was a Visitor Use Assistant at Grand Teton National Park in Jackson, Wyoming.  In the summer of 2006 she worked with the forest service as a Visitor Assistant in the White Mountains National Forest in Gorham, New Hampshire.
    
Thanks to the help of recently retired Professor Pat Stevens, Formanski got involved in the Student Career Experience Program (SCEP).  This is a federal program through the Department of the Interior.  She became involved in the part of the program that was through the Fish and Wildlife Service.  The SCEP program is considered the pathway to full-time employment.
    
In May of 2007, Formanski started the 640 hour SCEP program, assigned to the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in Chincoteague, Virginia.  Her experience could not have been better.
    
“This past summer was the culmination of everything I learned here, because I put it all into play working as a Law Enforcement SCEP student,” Formanski said.  “I never had so much fun in my life as I did this summer.  Last May I was saying that I was done with college and wondering if this is really what I wanted to do.  I was having doubts just because of job placement competitiveness.  This summer flew by for me.  I had a blast every day and was up at 5 a.m. and worked until 6 p.m. every night.”
    
“This convinced me what I really wanted to do and settled the second thoughts that I had during the spring.”
     
In December, Formanski will receive her degree in Conservation Law Enforcement.  If she passes the physical test, her next stop soon thereafter will be the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia, and a career in conservation law enforcement at the federal level.