Special Events Manager brings international experience to campus
- Feb 24, 2015
- 3 min read
MIDDLETOWN, Pa. – Penn State Harrisburg Special Events Manager Panna Idowu cites her mother as the person who instilled the importance of education in her and helped mold her into the strong person she is today.
Idowu credits her mother as being a fearless woman. She smiled as she complimented her mother’s strength. Her eyes also lit up when she recounted how her mother would never back down from a challenge. She believes that her mother is the reason why she is the woman she is today.
“Asian mothers tend to be tough on kids when it comes to education,” Idowu said. Idowu spoke highly of education during the interview. She said that education is important and that without it a person has nothing. She said she pushes education on her two children as much as possible because she wants them to have a successful future. She likes her children to do their homework before they participate in any leisure activities time at home and prefers they spend as much time as possible reading.
“I want my kids to be where they should be once they make it to adulthood,” Idowu said. She described herself as a nurturing yet disciplinary mother, making her children live on a scheduled routine.
“Between my husband and me, I’m the “softie,” Idowu said. Both Idowu and her husband read the Bible to their children to teach them the value of faith.
Born in the Philippines to a Bangladesh father and Philippine mother, Idowu grew up in a progressive atmosphere with her younger brother. She lived in a college town with the University of the Philippines Los Baños just a few miles away. She described her neighborhood as an “academic atmosphere.” Faculty and students who attended the university lived in the town. Her mother even taught at the university, so Idowu was surrounded by academics growing up.
During her childhood, Idowu led youth groups at her local church. She said that she was never really interested in sports, so instead she focused on school more than extracurricular activities. She graduated from high school with honors and attended the University of the Philippines Los Baños to study sociology. After graduating with a bachelor’s in arts and sociology, Idowu attended University of the Philippines Diliman to pursue a master’s degree in sociology. She compared both universities with Penn State Harrisburg and Penn State University Park campuses. “Diliman is more of an urban, city-like atmosphere, but it was much smaller than Los Baños,” Idowu said.
While in college, Idowu volunteered as a wedding coordinator. She never had any formal training in the event planning field, but she always had an interest in assisting with events. In the early 2000s, Idowu landed a job at Penn State Harrisburg. She assisted the special events manager at the time, until he left the position and moved out of Harrisburg. With her experience in planning events, Idowu became the new special events manager in the marketing department. Her responsibilities include organizing student awards ceremonies and graduations.
Idowu said that eternal significance, integrity and faith are a few of her personal life principles. She described eternal significance as living for the benefit of others instead of living for just oneself. “I am here for a reason, not to just exist,” Idowu said. She also said that she always puts other people before herself. She believes in benefiting others through her work.
She explained that she tries to demonstrate morals for her children, adding that integrity helps people determine right from wrong. “I always try to do the right thing,” Idowu said. “Faith drives who I am as a person.”
Idowu wants to travel to France, India and areas of the Philippines in the future. Although she grew up in the Philippines, there are some areas of the country she has yet to visit. Her family travels overseas for vacations at least once a year. She still sees herself working at Penn State Harrisburg as the special events manager for the next ten years.
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