Maddie James asked Dave Cullen:

I am currently reading your book Columbine due to personal interest because I would like to be a criminal profiler when I get out into the world. I am 14 and in high school so I know I have a little while until I get there, any advice? Thank you. P.S. I am absolutely loving the book so far, great piece of work!

Dave Cullen Hey Maddie James. Well you're definitely on the right track by reading all you can, at an early age. I guess my advice would be to study a wide breadth of subjects, because you would be surprised what areas of your brain they stimulate. In high school, my best subjects were math (especially proofs) and debate, and I found them oddly similar--both grounded in logic. To me, every proof in math was a little detective job: figuring out a complex logical path from point A to B. And so many math questions are mental-problem solving exercises. (Not we called the plug-and-chug calculation stuff, but the problems which are little brain teasers.)

Many of the investigators I know had a similar experience: that is honing the essential part of your brain.

But everything comes into play. Agent Fuselier was reading the complete works of Shakespeare, for example. So many great insights into the human condition and human behavior in literature and anthropology, etc.

So just gobble up everything you can, especially at this stage, but also in college. I would avoid specializing too much in any one thing too soon: be a generalist, dive into as many disciplines as deeply as you can.

And good luck!

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