SPEAKER: Welcome to the Towson University College of Fine Arts and Communications, What's Your Story podcast. In today's story, we hear from John Mackerron Professor of Electronic Media History and Production in the Department of Electronic Media and Film. He talks about taking a leap of faith that changed the course of his professional life. 

JOHN MACKERRON: There are really two subtitles to what I'd like to talk about today. The first subtitle is, Wandering in the Desert Searching for a Career. And the other subtitle is, Leap of Faith-- taking a chance not knowing exactly how it's going to turn out. 

The wandering in the desert really has to do with my search as a young man trying to decide what I wanted to do as a career. Off I go to college. And I was a physics major, because my intention was to continue to explore physics, but also to become a physics teacher. So I earned my undergraduate degree from a state university in New York, Fredonia State. 

I taught high school science. It was a learning experience for me. Toward the end of that year, I decided that I didn't really want a career as a high-school science teacher. And I wanted to explore my artistic interests. And so I figured, why don't I move on and explore radio as a career? 

I had worked part time at the local radio station. So I applied to Syracuse University's television and radio master's degree program and was accepted. So off I went to Syracuse. 

This was ideal for me. And radio was what I wanted to do. And I explored that and had lots of fun being a disc jockey. 

Once I earned the master's degree and the position was offered to me at the station where I was working part-time as a full-time news reporter-- there's a difference about working part time on the weekends, which is kind of fun. And having a job was five days a week, 8 to 10 hours a day tended to repeat itself. So I actually became bored with that, and didn't find it challenging, and wanted something else. 

I decided I would explore teaching in higher education, which I saw as more desirable. So I put some feelers out and had a reply from Ithaca College. They offered me a position on their faculty as a one-year replacement. And I accepted the position. 

Several days after I accepted the position, I received a phone call from this place called Towson State University in Towson, Maryland, and wanted to know if I wanted to come in for an interview. And I said, well, I've already have accepted a position at Ithaca. 

But I was interested in Towson. And I said, what are the chances of me getting that position? And the answer was, it's pretty much going to be your choice. 

So at that moment, there was a decision I made that was what I would call a leap of faith. Towson had a leap of faith in that they offered me a position over the phone without ever talking to me. And I was about to take a leap of faith, calling Ithaca College turning down the position, and telling Towson I would come for an interview and most likely would accept the position that they offered. 

So that was 46 years ago. And I'm still here at Towson. And it's a good fit. 

Sometimes it takes a while to be able to put all the things together to get that good fit. It's what you'd like to do in an environment that's comfortable for you and your interests, while at the same time, fitting in to the culture and the requirements of the company that's going to hire you. I wandered in the desert for a while. But I took that leap of faith, and it's really paid off for me. 

So take a chance. It's not the failure that's important. It's getting up from the failure and moving forward.