Workforce ready – TU students gain real world experience right on campus

Towson University students are front and center when it comes to showing the world how TU shines.

Senior Ali Requa, a student designer at TU
Senior Ali Requa, a student designer at TU

A university’s brand is the face it shows the world. How much of a role do you think students have on developing and supporting that brand?

Whether it is through acclaimed theater performances, athletic event broadcasts, the 150th anniversary celebrations or marketing and advertising, Towson University students are front and center when it comes to showing the world how TU shines.

Some say athletics is the “front porch” to a university. For those who can’t make it to the games, Ben Rosenbaum ’13 makes sure Tiger fans feel like they’re right in the action with his event streaming and post-game video highlights.

Despite not having a background in videography before attending TU, he became an intern for the Towson Sports Network (TSN), jumping in right away to film a volleyball match. 

“You come in and are expected to do any and everything - filming, running stream, control room, replay monitor, on-air broadcasting and highlights,” he reminisced. “Everyone who wants to try something has always gotten to give it a go.” 

Rosenbaum mentioned his class experience and time at TSN went hand-in-hand, helping him with his editing and interviewing skills. He is now the multimedia assistant for athletics broadcasting and interim new media director for TSN. Rosenbaum has gone from student to master, teaching his current crop of student interns how to shoot and edit highlights and how to use the equipment as well as manage game-day operations for all sports, run live webstreams - a skill he learned at TSN as an intern - and do commentary for women’s basketball, volleyball and women’s lacrosse.

Theater design and production major Devin O’Neill '16 plays a key role in TU’s theater productions, but you will have a hard time finding her on stage. A transfer from Montgomery College after a softball injury, the senior is responsible for creating the illusion that entertains an audience night after night. But her hard work is no mirage.

“ My range [of skills] is so wide because of what I had to take here, it’s so helpful … I definitely appreciate I am prepared for the kind of jobs that are open. ”

Devin O'Neil '16, theater design and production

“You have to take each type of design class [lighting, set, costume, stagecraft],” she said. “You have to learn how to use all the tools and know all the kinds of screws and bolts and nails and power tools.

“And then you have to take all the crews. You have to actually hang lights for a production, do a shop crew, do a run crew helping with wardrobe and moving set pieces. You really have to dive into every part of production, which I think is good.”

O'Neill attended the 2016 Southeastern Theatre Conference and decided at the last minute to enter the undergraduate costume design competition with her work from Towson’s recent production of “No Child.” She won first place.

Stepping into the theater department without a theater background has forced O’Neill into a steep learning curve. But she’s ready for the challenge. 

“You see firsthand with your professors how their training helped them,” she said. “I think the value of it and everything I’m doing is that there are real-life uses for everything. I’m learning how to build things on my own. 

“Just searching for jobs I can get while I’m in college … my range [of skills] is so wide because of what I had to take here, it’s so helpful. Right now I’m looking for jobs I can get once I graduate, and the skill set for some of these jobs is so wide. If you’re not involved in this kind of program, there’s no way you’re going to be prepared right out of college. I definitely appreciate I am prepared for the kind of jobs that are open.”

The 2015-16 academic year is Towson’s 150th anniversary. A yearlong celebration was planned by a special committee, and junior Brandon Wharton ‘17 is the only student on it.

As the public relations and marketing associate in the student agency of the Department of Integrated Marketing, Wharton has helped orchestrate many of the events held so far.

In addition to his role on the committee, Wharton is a full-time student who holds positions on the Maryland Youth Advisory Council, the University System of Maryland Student Council and was a part of Towson’s Presidential Search and Screening Committee.

As a self-proclaimed innovator, Wharton knows the value of continuing to improve. But at the end of the day, his biggest motivator is that he’s doing exactly what he wants to do.

“It’s a great reason to come to work every day,” Wharton said. “I get to say, ‘I’m helping plan the biggest party Towson’s ever had.’" 

He works with the staff of TU’s Creative Services department[BROKEN LINK] to create his marketing materials, including senior Ali Requa ’16, a graphic design major.

A transfer from Harford Community College, Requa plans to work on packaging and apparel accounts after graduation, but right now she is responsible for designing print and digital materials for clients across the campus.

She created the event posters for the screening of the critically acclaimed film “The Illusionist.” The movie’s director loved them and signed a copy for Requa. She is working on the cover design for TU’s award-winning student literary magazine “Grub Street” and feels the pressure to keep up the win streak.

“It’s nerve-racking,” Requa admitted. “But it’s also taking that nervousness and pushing it toward being better and getting excited about it. 

The Maryland native isn’t waiting for hindsight to see the value in her job. She knows she’s developing marketable skills every day. 

“We’re working closely with the marketing staff - that’s my minor. I’m learning how they deal with clients, how to react to my personal clients. Also dealing with keeping myself up to date with the boss, telling him what I’m working on and making sure I’m on track with everything.”