2021 Homecoming chair says TU truly is her home

Homecoming chair Abigail Bauman made TU her home, ready to celebrate it

By Kyle Hobstetter on October 12, 2021

2021 Homecoming Chair, Abigail Bauman — As the 2021 homecoming chair, Abigail Bauman has worked to help plan events that celebrate the Towson University community that has accepted her. (Alex Wright/Towson University)

Growing up near Burlington, Vermont, Abigail Bauman’s parents had one rule when she was deciding on a college: It had to be within a six-hour drive.

“They told me they weren’t going to put me on a plane,” laughs Bauman, who is now a senior health education and promotion major[BROKEN LINK] at Towson University—more than 10 hours away from her hometown.

How did she get her parents to lift the six-hour radius? Because when she visited campus, it immediately felt like home.

“I fell in love instantly,” Bauman says. “A lot of tours felt like they were showing you just a campus. At TU, it felt like they were trying to show you the community, which is such a big part of why I love this campus so much.

“I told my parents that I had to go to TU. They sighed and laughed and said, ‘Well, I guess we’ll have to put you on a plane.’”

Community has been a big part of Bauman’s time at TU. It’s one of the reasons she joined the Homecoming Committee her freshman year and chairs it now. It allowed her to find creative ways to engage with the campus during a week that’s dedicated to celebrating all things Towson University.

After serving as events director and vice chair, this year Bauman is Homecoming Committee chair. She’s ready to put her own spin on events, even though the process has been a rough, and sometimes virtual, one.

“[Homecoming] is a community within a community because we’re our own little family, but then you're bringing joy to the rest of the campus, and it’s so cool,” Bauman says. “Shout out to all my lovely directors, because we’ve spent months over FaceTime, Zoom and email to give TU the best Homecoming week we could.”

Working with people has been a theme for Bauman’s time at TU. It attracted her to Homecoming planning and to her major.

In high school, Bauman took a personality quiz to see what her future career should be. The quiz said she liked helping people and should investigate the health professions.

With blood and needles not being her thing, she wants to help through disease prevention instead.

“Just knowing that something I'm doing could save [someone] or help prevent disease…I think that's amazing,” Bauman says.

A future goal is returning to TU in the fall to be part of the occupational therapy master’s program.

Bauman found her true passion in the last few years when she shadowed occupational therapists in clinical settings. She’s also watched as OTs have helped her grandfather, who was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, a chronic autoimmune disorder in which antibodies destroy the communication between nerves and muscle.

“You’re literally helping [improve] someone’s world,” Bauman says. “You are giving them something back that they thought they would never do again. That’s an amazing feeling.”

If she is accepted into TU’s occupational therapy program, she will stay at TU a little bit longer. That works out for her since she’s not ready to leave the community she considers home.

As for her parents, Bauman has a pretty good idea on how they can be closer to her and escape harsh Vermont winters.

“I’m trying to convince them to move to Maryland,” Bauman laughs.