Six months ago, Mark Droter, a 2012 Towson alumnus, bought a one-way ticket to Los Angeles, Calif. Moving to California was always something Droter knew he wanted to do, but the timing never seemed quite right. “One night while sitting at home, I decided I didn’t want to wait anymore,” Droter said. “The time was right to make the leap … and [I] got on the plane less than a week later.” Just the thought [...]

Many college students start to ask the same question once they graduate: “Now that I have my degree, what am I actually going to do for the rest of my life?” For 2003 alumnus Michael Mattera, everything seems to be falling into place. About three months after graduating as an Electronic Media and Film major, Mattera moved to New York City to study acting at The Michael Howard Studios, continue with his interest in stand [...]

Joey Aikins is a sales marketer by day and indie artist by night. “I have been involved with hip-hop since I was 11,” the Towson alumnus said. Aikins experienced his first taste of success when he and his former band “Breaking Reign,” were the winners of the 2010 Battle of The Bands at Towson. They then had the opportunity to open for N.E.R.D. at that year’s Tigerfest. Aikins’ latest endeavor is a music video for [...]

When Katrina Purrnstein was a child, her favorite hobby was to follow around the family cat. “My parents said I would get on the floor and drink my milk from the cat bowl because that’s what I saw our cat doing,” the 1913 Towson alumna said. From a young age, Purrnstein knew she wanted to study cats. She graduated from Towson in 2007 with a degree in felinology and has since been chasing her lifelong [...]

For years John Kassir supported himself by performing on the streets of New York and through odd jobs. The class of 1980 alumnus found success early on, performing in an off-Broadway show in New York the year he graduated from the relatively new Towson theater program. “The show had just a little run and I found myself with no job in New York,” he said. “I started auditioning for other shows. They didn’t pay much—$175 [...]

Towson alumnus Vince Talbert had 18 jobs between the ages of 16 to 21. Some jobs lasted for months, others just for one day. They ranged from a landscaper to a jewelry kiosk clerk. But what really inspired his dream was his job as a sandwich maker. Making sandwiches wasn’t his passion, Talbert said, but realizing how much it actually costs of the sandwiches.  The heavy discrepancy between how much the business paid for sandwich [...]

Before attending Towson, 2004 alumnus Joshua Parker said he had a different idea of college life.  He thought you spend most of your time learning, and occasionally can you have fun. After coming to college, Parker said he found something he never expected—his special “gift” — a gift is to simply help and teach people. Parker said he learned and understood that others depend on him for guidance. Parker became a teacher in Baltimore County [...]

The Towson Center is the site of many memorable moments: welcome day freshman year, sporting events, graduation day senior year. For alumnus Tim Walbert, the Towson Center is where he fulfills his dream job as a filmmaker.Walbert, class of 1980, said he has come full circle. He studied film at Towson, and now directs sports shows at the University as well as the Baltimore Orioles broadcast. “When I graduated I was a mass comm major,” [...]

Towson alumna Mary Carol Reilly recalls standing on a corner in Northwest Baltimore in the 1950s, holding her mother’s hand, watching a taxi cab go by. “I’d like to either be a lawyer, or a cab driver,” she told her mother then. Reilly’s mother, like any middle class mother raising a young girl in the ‘50s, suggested a reasonable alternative: “Why not be a secretary to a lawyer?” While Reilly worked a variety of jobs [...]

Fourteen years ago Towson alumnus David Seth Cohen was working as a wardrobe production assistant on the set of the film “Big Daddy,” starring Adam Sandler. While delivering clothes to Sandler’s apartment, he was invited inside for a drink. However, he had to decline the invitation because of work obligations. Production ended, but that kept Cohen saying, “what if.” He decided to create his own film, one that would follow his pursuit of once again [...]