SISTER SIMILARITIES
THE STRANG-ROCK SIBLINGS’ DRAGON LEGACY STORY For many young people, attending the same college as an older sibling or enrolling alongside a family member would be out of the question. It’s a common desire for campus first-year students to use this new chapter in their lives to reinvent themselves, establish a life away from home or avoid the pressure of living up to the legacy an older sibling left behind. This is understandable and especially true with regard to smaller institutions like TU, where the faces are always familiar. For the Strang-Rock sisters however, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Twins Allyson and Amanda chose to become Dragons together, following in the footsteps of their older sister Alicia, a fellow TU alumna. Not only that, but all three sisters are currently engaged in some form of law enforcement work, meaning the twins undoubtedly encountered many of the same professors and mentors as Alicia during their studies. That said, Allyson and Amanda stand firmly by their choices to this day. For them, maintaining an already-strong familial bond only enhanced their relationship and college experience, not to mention strengthened their connection to Alicia, who progressed through many of the same TU-centric milestones. Alicia Strang (Rock) graduated in 2010 with Bachelor of Criminal Justice degrees in both forensic science and homeland security/ terrorism before going on to earn her Master of Science in Criminal Justice in homeland security administration, also through TU. She is now the Senior Medicolegal Death Investigator for the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office in Cleveland and is grateful to TU for helping prepare her to meet the demands of her field. After gaining some industry experience, Alicia even chose to return to her alma mater beginning in 2017 to teach a course on death investigations for the criminalistics major. She remains an adjunct faculty member to this day. “I can’t speak for my sisters, but I initially chose TU because of the small class sizes and the fact that their professors have real-world understanding of the subjects they teach,” said Alicia. “This might be hard to believe, but I swear that before my sisters and I attended, my family had no prior connection to the school. We each fell in love with it for reasons unique to us, which I think speaks to its quality. That’s why I chose to return and keep returning as a faculty member.” Amanda agrees with this sentiment, and states that while she first got acquainted with TU through her older sister, the decision to attend was hers alone. “Sure, visiting our sister while she was there helped Allyson and me get familiar with the area,” said Amanda. “So it was definitely on our radar when the time came to start our own college SISTER SIMILARITIES / 40
journeys, but we went into it with open minds. Just because Alicia loved it didn’t mean I would or my twin would, either. It just so happened that both of us felt at home the second we set foot on campus. It was a gut feeling,” she explained. Amanda graduated from Tiffin in 2018 alongside her twin with a Bachelor of Science degree in exercise science and a minor in sports and recreation management. She is now employed through the Cleveland Division of Police as an officer. “Our grandparents were involved with the military when they were younger,” Amanda explained. “Because of this, all three of us developed an immense respect for first responders and those called to help others at an early age. Even though nobody else in our family is or was involved in law enforcement, I think that was in part what prompted Amanda and me to serve. We wanted to assist people in our own ways. TU is partly responsible for this, too – charity and philanthropy have always been some of their core values, and they definitely inspire students to carry on their tradition of service as they enter the real world.” According to Amanda, this desire to help people is what informs her day-to-day decision-making as an officer while on duty. “As an officer, my responsibility is to respond to calls for service no matter what they are,” she explained. “It could be anything from a minor noise complaint to something as serious as a homicide investigation. No matter the case, I arrive on-scene with the same mindset – do everything I can to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all involved. It’s mine and my partner’s responsibility to do all we can in any way possible.” Allyson shares her twin’s thoughts on the matter, and also cites her own rationale for choosing to pursue this line of work. “The 9/11 terrorist attacks were a huge influence on my choice of career,” said Allyson. “Though I was a child when it all happened, I knew then and there that I wanted to do my part to protect our country. I’d also be lying if I said that Alicia didn’t inspire me, too. Watching her go to school and pursue a career in criminal investigation was definitely formative for me.” Allyson graduated from TU with a Bachelor of Criminal Justice degree in homeland security and counterterrorism and a minor in government. She is now employed as a police officer in Detroit and is especially grateful to her alma mater not only for providing her a quality education, but for doing so in a way that made her feel valued. “I feel the professors and staff at Tiffin cared about me as a whole, not just about me as a student,” Allyson remembered. “I could
