A Q&A with Jasmin Farahani
This article is part of an occasional series introducing you to our Tigers.
By Megan Bradshaw on June 12, 2017
Jasmin Farahani, ’18, marketing intelligence M.S.
Tell me about where you’re from.
Growing up in Hamburg [Germany] was great. Having the freedom to go anywhere was great. There’s a lot of public transportation. When I went to high school, which started in the fifth grade, I always had to take the subway. Just walking around and having everything so close by…just take your bike and go anywhere. That’s what I miss the most about it.
Tell me about your family.
I grew up with my mom; my parents are divorced. We had an apartment and there were a lot of kids in the building. There was a playground in between the apartments. I have a lot of cousins; both my parents have four siblings. My dad is from Iran and his siblings either went to Germany or to the States.
What made you choose Towson University?
I came here to see how the American lifestyle was. I did an au pair year; a lot of Germans do that. I started at CCBC to get all the basic classes out of the way. Then I came to Towson University and they offer scholarships for international students. A lot of schools don’t do that. I did my undergrad here in business administration with a concentration in international. But international business is so broad, so I decided to project management. I took some data mining classes and business intelligence and I fell in love with it. The marketing intelligence program not only has the marketing part, it also has computer science and analysis.
What do you do in your free time?
I play a lot of tennis with a friend. I do martial arts—hapkido. My host daughter really wanted to do it, but she didn’t want to do it by herself, so I said “I’ll do it with you.” So we started, and she quit for a few years, and I kept doing it. It’s a lot of fun. I’ve become an assistant instructor, so I teach the little kids, like five and six year-olds.
What/Who is your favorite class or professor?
I have Dr. Scala…the first class I took with her was a 300-level and then two independent studies. She has been helping me so much over the years. She’s my favorite teacher. Even though I don’t have her anymore, I still keep in touch with her, and she sends me emails if I can help out with something. All my professors are really engaged with their students and know what they’re doing. They really want you to be the best you can be and succeed.
What is your favorite thing about TU?
Probably that everything is so close by. Towson has everything. It has a gym, it has cafeterias, stores…But also the professors. That they are really engaged. I love this school. Another reason I decided to stay [to get my master’s] was because I love Towson so much.
What are your plans for the future?
Data analyst. I want to stay in the States for maybe two or three years to get some experience. Here right now data analysis is really big. I will definitely go back to Germany after two or three years of experience. All my family is there. My dad has a company, so I could take that over. It’s not my plan to manage people, but maybe I can get some data analysis into the company. He builds chocolate machines; he’s an engineer. He built the company by himself, so I don’t want to change it, but I also don’t want it to die out when he is not here anymore. So I want to help out where I can.