Longwood students study a variety of things and have a vast array of aspirations. There are hundreds of future teachers and business professionals who walk up and down Brock Commons every day. But have you ever wondered how many future special agents walk among us?
On Tues., Feb. 22, two Longwood Alumni, Randy Bowling (1988) and Mo Tolliver (1990), came to speak to students interested in pursuing a career with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Professor John Barbrey, assistant professor of criminology, introduced the men to a packed lecture hall in Chichester Science Center.
Many criminal justice majors were very excited to listen to the men tell their stories. Some seemed a bit intimidated by their special agent status, which made questions hard to come by. The session was supposed to be rather informal; the G-Men told their life stories, hoping that the students in attendance would be able to relate to them.
Bowling was first to speak. Born and raised in Fredericksburg, Va., he actually graduated from Longwood with a degree in Physical Education. He joked about having to move back in with his parents for a few years until he got a job as a physical trainer in Quantico, Va., where he became a special agent in 1994.
Though he hoped to stay in the southeast, Bowling was assigned to El Paso, TX and his wife, whom he met at Longwood, moved with him. He stayed in El Paso for three years and worked "general criminal stuff," like gang and drug activity. He was then sent to Texas City, TX, where he worked with different challenges, like environmental crimes and a very large Vietnamese population.
After Bowling told his story, the students were shown a video that details the process of FBI training camp. According to the agents, it is the same one shown to the families of graduating agents.
Then, it was Tolliver's turn to speak. Tolliver is from the rural county of King George, Va., and was the only one of the children in his large family who went to college. He, like Bowling, was a member of a fraternity on campus, and he was really involved in intramural sports. After graduating, he was able to get a job at the FBI as a clerk and work his way up the ladder, eventually becoming an agent. He was sent to Los Angeles, about as far from his hometown as possible within the continental United States, where he did work on cases involving gangs of every type, including MS-13 and "every other clique under the sun," as he put it.
Today, both men are back in Virginia, and were both excited to be speaking to college students at their own alma mater. The focus of this event, however, was not on the life stories of these very interesting Longwood alumni. It was on the opportunities that are available to students interested in this career path. Throughout the presentation, they had useful advice for students interested in becoming FBI agents; most of their advice wasn't at all majorly specific, but would be good for any student to follow.
"It's a tough world and a tough market that you're going into," said Tolliver. He urged students to become involved on campus in order to boost their resumes and make themselves stand out as job candidates. Students were also warned to keep their records clean, and to watch what they post online, because employers years later could possibly find it.
After the presentation was over, a question-and-answer session was held, allowing students to talk to the men on a more personal level. This session wrapped up at about 8:30 p.m., but the men stayed for a long while afterward in order to talk to students one-on-one.
Tolliver expressed his Longwood pride, explaining that many men in his office wear shirts saying things like "I went to Princeton," but he finds this funny. "It doesn't matter where you get your degree," he said to a small group of students after the presentation, "It's what you do with it." He urged students not to limit themselves. "We wanted to prove to you guys that you can go to Longwood and still become a Supervisory Special Agent. That's why we came."
Tolliver was excited about giving back to the university in this fashion. "You don't always have to give money, but you can give time." The time given by these two men was certainly appreciated by all of those in attendance.
