Why Towson?

I've been thinking a lot about my Alma Mater, Towson University, lately. not just the parties, the friends, the freedom or the bars, but the school itself and how grateful I am for how they prepared me for the real world. More specifically, my incredible major program: Mass Communications.

Oh and what a wonderful major it is. In my time at Towson, I learned that different majors were easy to "spot". Between where you hung out around campus and your style and attitude, I became pretty good at determining who was who. The really skinny girls and few boys surrounding the fine arts building were dance majors, conservative and stressed out young women and men near Linthicum and Hawkins Hall were clearly education majors, the small boys with laptops and bookbags circling the York Road building were your future programmers and IT gurus, the good looking, but somewhat materialistic men and highly strung and driven women at the front of campus in Stephens Hall were the Business and Marketing majors, and then you have the Mass Com. majors: the "fun major". And I'm not just saying that because it was my major, but because that is how we were typically perceived. Also, I'd just like to state that for the record, this description doesn't pertain to all Mass Com. majors, and certainly not myself, but the majority. You can spot them from a mile away: The girls who always look ahead of the trends no matter what time of day it is with their big bags, big sunglasses and big hair. Everything is bigger and better for Mass Com. women. And then there are the men of Mass Com. who are typically found with the Mass Com. girls who they are grouped with in their classes and are carrying them through so they can pass. These folks can easily be found outside of Van Bokkelen or the Media Center gossiping and smoking a cig or two.

On the outside the "Mass Com. Kids" look like they love to party, and we do, BUT we also know how hard we work. Our professors are, hands down, the best Towson has to offer, and push us to be our best every step of the way. Priding themselves on real world experience, they are truly preparing us for life after college, not just teaching from a text book. Sure we get to learn about promoting people, advertising, campaigns and media law, and to some that seems like a joke, BUT we are taught how to interview, how to promote ourselves, how to intern and how to communicate (obviously) so our transition over to the real world isn't quite as tough.

I just want to thank you, Towson University, for having the Mass Communications major and staffing it with some of the most educated and experienced professionals in the area. In case you're still reading this and want an opinion on some of the professors in the major, here are my suggestions:

• Dr. Lee: If you're lazy and don't want to work, don't take her class, but you will learn more of the in's and out's of advertising or media planning than you thought possible with her. Stay on her good side and she is more than helpful.
  
  
• Dr. Vatz: A communications studies professor, BUT I highly recommend his Persuasion class as an elective. This man is hilarious and definitely worth knowing.
  
  
• Garry Bolan: Ohhh, Garry Bolan! He can be somewhat of a pushover, but he knows his stuff, and a lot of people. His classes make you feel like you enjoy the major again while you're drowning in Media Planning or Research.
  
  
• Glenn Schorr: Last, but most certainly not least. I have to confess, I may have been slightly in love with Glenn, just ask my friend Erin, he is all I used to rave about. But he is an incredible teacher, especially considering he is an adjunct and your class is typically only once a week. He is down to earth, looks out for his students, wants you to understand the subject matter and makes it relateable, gets to know his students and their learning styles and has taught me so many valuable lessons.
  
  I could go on and on about this man, but at the risk of sounding obsessed, I think I'll stop and just say, if you're a Mass Com. major and don't take one of his classes you are really missing out.