
Like many students, Kassandra Buster’s path has had a few twists and turns in it. She started at O’Neill in 1997—the first in her family to pursue higher education. She dreamed of a job in homeland security but that dream was put on hold.
“Life just got in the way,” she admits. “I dropped out.”
She left college for a job at Riley Hospital for Children but was still drawn to criminal justice and eventually took a position as a 911 dispatcher. By 2009, she realized not having a degree was holding her back.
Buster returned to O’Neill with more motivation and commitment than ever. She earned her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, her master’s in criminal justice and public safety management, and a certificate in homeland security and emergency management.
She’s now putting those degrees to use for the community. As the senior coordinator with the IMPD Homeland Security Bureau, she updates Indianapolis’ emergency management plans and manages community outreach for disaster preparedness, including the Community Emergency Response Team.