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First Year Experience and Beyond

Joachim Koka is a First Year Experience Coordinator
and an advisor for Saint Rose students.

BY DAVID MEISTER
Staff Wrtier

The transition to college from high school is never an easy task, but Saint Rose has one man that helps make that change more comforting for first year students. Joachim Koka is someone almost every freshman or transfer will interact with.
In their first year, students will realize that Koka is more than just the First-Year Programs Coordinator, but a resource that any student, of any class, can use and create a friend for the rest of their college career and beyond. While his primary goal is to help first year students navigate the first-year experience, he is also involved in many other programs.
One of Koka’s primary responsibilities is helping to organize the two student welcoming events; STAR Days and Comprehensive Orientations. He also conducts tabling events to spread the word about first-year programs.
Other duties Koka has on campus besides first-year programs include being the co-advisor to the Saint Rose chapter of The National Society of Leadership and Success alongside Darcey Kemp. He is a FLIGHT Guide, which stands for First-Year Leaders Influencing Generations with High Tenacity, where he serves as a mentor for first generation college students, as well as a campus coach for first-year students. He is also the advisor to the commuter assistant program and the newly formed Commuter Council which aims to make Saint Rose a more commuter-friendly campus.
The leadership society he assists provides speaker broadcasts throughout the semester for students to watch and listen to some of the country’s greatest leaders of thought. Koka, as a co-advisor, goes to each of these sessions and leads students in success networking team meetings and leadership training days where they set SMART goals and action steps to succeed as well as identify their passion. Watching these broadcasts, Koka has gained some insight and life lessons to take with him going forward.
“The speakers provide great input and experience, said Koka. “You get some real gems from them.” His personal favorite speaker was John Maxwell, a nationally recognized speaker and author who focuses on leadership development.
Koka described the leadership society and its Leadership Training Day (LTD), a component all members have to complete, as something missing from today’s high school education. The LTD is directed by videos from the society and has students identify their passion and encourages them to take risks and define their strengths.
For someone involved in so many different activities and organizations on campus, Koka does not have any form of time management system. From the Maxwell speech, Koka learned that time management is a loaded term and that you can’t manage or make time. Maxwell believes that it’s about priority management. Koka has adopted that philosophy himself.
Koka has also adopted another policy, this one from Mark Zuckerburg where he posed the question of: “is this the most important thing I could be doing?” Between those two thought processes, Koka has created his own priority management system with an emphasis on trying to be productive, something he admits he’s obsessed with, in everything he does both on and off campus.
He uses a passion planner which is an intentional planner from Kickstarter. It is hard copy and allows for personalized planning of daily activities are well as long term weekly and monthly planning, something he admits he’s not always great at. His favorite part isn’t the planning, it’s that the planner allows for personal reflections and he takes that to heart and has stuck with it ever since December of 2016.
Koka is an avid music and media consumer. His favorite genres are R&B and hip-hop with his favorite artists being BJ The Chicago Kid, Danny Brown, and Brock Hampton to name a few. His favorite media outlets are Viceland, Vox, and NeedleDrop as his personal favorites as they all focus on lifestyle choices.
He also describes himself as an introvert. Koka believes that authenticity combined with a contagious personality is the most personable and productive way to interact with students.
“Extroverts get energy from many people. Introverts are more personal,” he said.
Koka also has no blanket approach to meeting with students and tries to make meaningful bonds with them. He meets students one-on-one and makes both guidance and personal connections and adapts to their needs as it goes along.
“Joachim is an overall great guy to be around and he has the ability to relate to students.” says Michael Stratton, director of Computer and Media Services.
Outside of campus Koka researches any idea that he finds interesting. His typical days are filled and he keeps busy. He realizes that time goes by fast and on some days he will leave campus and go to the gym, eat dinner, and then decompress. Creating good energy for himself comes through reading and thinking of his family and friends. Typically he reads from his favorite genre of self-help books and some of his favorites include work from John Maxwell, “Daily Zen” by Charlie Ambler, “Tao of Wu” by RZA, and “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury.
For his hobbies, he is trying to read more as well as getting into daily zen, which he’s learning from Ambler’s book, as well as yoga which he does from from time to time.
Koka also is working on his cooking skills, learning from YouTube videos. He likes to eat and is trying to save money by trying to cook on his own. While he admits he loves food in general and is not fussy, his signature dish so far is chicken parmesan because according to him, “everyone needs parm.”
Koka also takes very good care of his appearance, as he believes “style is the most visceral form of expression.” It is noticed by one of his fellow co-workers Lamara Burgess, associate director of Intercultural Leadership.
“His fashion sense is unmatched and I look forward to seeing the fun sock/shoe combination he will wear next,” said Burgess.
Exploring other interests, Koka has taken specifically to environmental work. He’s not an activist but an environmentalist because he feels it is an underrated cause. He found it to be a cause that he can get loud about. He thinks everyone has a cause they care about and can get involved to make a difference, something he learned from former Dean of the School of Arts and Humanities Leroy Bynum Jr. During one of his speeches to staff.
“Community service is the rent you pay,” said Bynum
That quote that has resonated with Koka in recent weeks. He’s been trying to help the local community – he volunteers on Saturdays at Enigma which he described as a lifestyle store. It is located on Lark Street in Albany and sells plants as well as men’s and women’s clothing. He is also trying to find other avenues to pitch in to as well.
Koka’s service to the local community has been noticed by Ken Scott, director of Community Service.
“He has approached me a number of times for ideas about going beyond the scope of his job to make a difference in the community,” said Scott. “He brings an interest in environmentalism, sustainability, and service.”
Since Koka is a recent college graduate, he reflected on his time as a student and how that’s shaped how he goes about his job now. He found out about Saint Rose from his guidance counselor at Hunter-Tannersville High School who attended the college. What really drew him into Saint Rose was the faculty saying that they had conviction in what they did, specifically the political science staff with whom he interacted at an open house. Koka minored in political science and majored in criminal justice. He came here with just scholarship money and loans to take care of the rest, so he knows that college debt can be insurmountable. On the brighter side of college life he recognizes that for students at a college age in a new setting, that it’s all about growth and development. At this age, around 18-20, people know their moral stance but they can still grow even further because being a new place and around new people can create growth.
“You want success to be defined by you,” he said.
A value that Koka instills in his students and encourages them to do.
Joachim Koka’s work both on and off campus helps to define who he is. The ey to his job is communicating and bonding with students and he tries to make it as easy, fun, and interesting as possible. “Words are exciting,” said Koka. “

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