Tine Liu, Town&Gown

Doing works for charities has always been one of Austin Sommerer’s biggest passions. Part of that comes from his parents, who have been involved in an organization called Oceans of Love, a nonprofit group in Ocean County, New Jersey, dedicated to helping children with cancer and their families. Part of his passion also comes…

To pursue her dream of being a professional opera singer, Jennifer Trost sold everything she owned — twice. Taking those chances paid off for Trost, who besides being an opera singer is an associate professor of music at Penn State, where she teaches voice lessons and song- and opera-literature courses. She earned her bachelor’s degree…

Laura Merritt knows the importance of blood donation all too well. “I had a family member who passed away. He needed blood, but there wasn’t enough at that time,” says Merritt, who lives and works in State College as the donor-recruitment representative for the Greater Alleghenies Region of the American Red Cross. “That was…

“I like writing in my journals with a pen. The act of writing and the physical contact with pen and paper gives me inspiration,” says Gabeba Baderoon, a South African poet from the city of Cape Town who joined the departments of Women’s Studies and African and African American studies at Penn State as an…

Erik Clayton looks around the high school and laughs. “I almost forgot, this week is our homecoming,” he says in early October. It has been about a year since Clayton was appointed as director of choirs at State College Area High School. He graduated from Penn State in 2006, double majoring in music education…