Meet Julianna Merendino: Criminal justice graduate at Empire State University

Recent Empire State University graduate Julianna Merendino is an active member of the United States Navy, inspired by her family who are mostly members of the Navy and Marine Corps.  

“My grandmother was a big inspiration to me,” Merendino said. “She was a lieutenant in the Navy. So one day I decided that if I’m going to do something with my life, I should do it, and I went on to join the Navy and haven’t looked back.”  

Merendino earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice at Empire State University and graduated on May 3, 2024. While she was a student, she worked as a funeral honors coordinator for the U.S. Navy and often had to drive across the state for different services, making a traditional classroom environment more challenging. Merendino said the flexible class options and military-related services offered at Empire State University through the Veteran and Military Resource Center were key to her success.  

Empire State University serves over 1,000 military-affiliated students, the most of any State University of New York Institution, and works to support those students through different programming and resources with the Veteran and Military Resource Center.  

“The resources were there to figure out what I, as a service member, would be entitled to,” Merendino said. “That was one of the big reasons why I ended up going with SUNY Empire because I looked at other schools and they were not as accommodating. They made it sound like it would set me back and they wouldn’t recommend me to do the exact degree and things I did here.”  

Merendino said she will eventually go back to school for her master’s degree and hopes to work in cybersecurity.  

“It feels amazing to have accomplished it while working full-time and doing the things I did,” Merendino said. “I know a lot of people don’t think they have the ability to do it, but if they jump right in like I did, it’s completely possible.”