TU's Cordell Easter wants to help people build relationships and wealth

By Megan Bradshaw on August 28, 2017

Cordell Easter ‘19, psychology major / finance minor

Tell me about where you’re from.

I’m from Indianhead, Maryland, which is in Charles County, so south from here. I went to school in another town, at a Student Technology and Industry school (STI). I did cross country in high school. I tried to participate in as many things as possible. Me and another friend started a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) at our school, so we did fundraising. I went to all the games. Those kind of things were fun. Just hanging out with friends.

What made you want to attend an STI?

In middle school, I knew I didn’t want to attend high school around my home. I wanted a new crowd of people, to see different faces. I saw the electronics program [at my school], and initially I wanted to go to college for programming or something computer-related.

What made you change to your current major?

I came to school and was an accounting major. I didn’t want to do the computer stuff since it’s a lot of the same type of thing, and I get bored really easily. I found out accounting was exactly like that. I ended up changing to psychology and minoring in finance. I want to be a financial advisor one day. I want to help people, build relationships. There’s nothing more close to people than their money. I just want to be a good financial adviser. 

Tell me about your family.

I have my parents, an older brother who is four years older than me. We had one dog most of my life; he passed away just recently. My parents actually just got two dogs, I guess to kind of represent me and my brother. They have new kids now! Home life is great. I enjoy going back home. I usually don’t go home during the semester, so it gives me time to miss my family. I’ve only ever had fond memories of home. I am the only Towson Tiger. My brother went to Frostburg. I visited that school, didn’t like it. I wanted more of a bigger-type feel.

What made you want to take the route to financial planning through a psychology major?

I want to relate psychology to financial advising since financial planning is the psychology of money. You have to know how to talk to people. [You have to] know how people work, and know how and why people might spend their money the way they do and maybe how you can help change that based on their psychology. When I get out of college, I feel like that is something I can bring up in an interview to make me stand out from other people who were just finance majors. I’ll have the same skill set in finance and I’ll be able to pass my test. But this is just a little bit extra I’ll be able to provide.

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What do you do for fun?

I’m in Greek Life; I’m in Theta Chi. I hang out with everyone as much as possible. I work at Student Computing Services and P.F. Chang’s. I’m the diversity chair for the Inter-Fraternity Council (IFC) and within my own fraternity as well as being on the standards board. I find it rewarding to help people to step out of the general ideas they had growing up and opening their mind to experiencing new things. I enjoy seeing success in that. When I initially contacted [Matt] Lenno about starting that type of program, I got nothing but good responses, which was great. I feel like it came at a great time period, especially what goes on now, to move Greek Life out of that perspective that it’s only for a certain type of people. Because I don’t believe it is. I’m trying to bring inclusiveness to it and that generally makes me happy.

What is your favorite class and/or who is your favorite professor?

Right now, it’s ethics. I’m taking it with Neil Brophy. He’s an awesome professor. It’s very interesting how much you have to think about the things you do. Things can be moral, things can be not, depending on the situation. It’s mind-boggling. My favorite professor is Professor Steinbaum. She was my psychology teacher last semester — wonderful. I would love to take her for another class. She’s very helpful in genera — always answers questions, no matter how late. A lot of professors don’t do that. She was always available to meet up with you. When you didn’t do so great on an exam, she would sit down with you and figure out what are we doing wrong. Her encouraging persona was very helpful.

What made you choose Towson University?

I wanted to go to Towson since the seventh grade. My middle school did a college fair and Towson University came, and through all the colleges that came that day, Towson was the one that stuck out to me. I actually have a journal from middle school that says “Graduating from Towson University.” I just thought it was cool. I’ve wanted to go here a long time, and to finally be going here, it met my expectations and more. I think for me because I got so involved…it’s helped me and changed me as a person. This is a large institution but it never feels like it. I feel like I know the staff. I feel comfortable with the teachers. My classes aren’t huge — they are smaller than they were in high school. I just think this school in general has helped me to better myself as a person and I attribute that to the university.

Where do you see yourself going in the financial planning field?

I definitely want to work for Morgan Stanley. That’s a goal. That’s a dream. I’m trying to get an internship with them. They strive to have inclusiveness. They have different programs for diversity outreach, and I just love that. Not a lot of big firms do that kind of stuff at all. Usually you just see white males in those positions, but they are looking for women, they are looking for black individuals and LGBT and I think that’s awesome.