One of the Siena’s most involved—and funniest—students, Dakota Coons is this week’s Campus Celebrity. From being VP of Biology Club to being in charge of just about everything else you can think of, Dakota is very well-known on campus for being a smiling face and absolutely hysterical. Read on to see what advice Dakota offers to some of his fellow commuter students and why he needed to call his mom in the middle of the interview.
Hometown: Clifton Park, NY
Year: Class of 2017
Major: Biology, On the Allied Health Professions Track
Favorite Food: Cheese
Favorite Movie: The Conjuring
HC: What are you involved with here on campus?
Dakota: I am involved in Ambassadors, I am Vice President of the Commuter Student Association (CSA), Vice President of Biology Club, Co-Secretary of Red Cross Club, Laboratory Assistant for General Chemistry, I am a Saint for Fall 2015, and I am Chairperson of the Dining Advisory Committee.
HC: That’s a lot of stuff! What is your favorite out of all of those?Probably Commuter Student Association because it is so personal to me because I am a commuter. It’s so great how we totally revamped the organization this year. Before this year it was a four-person counsel, and we rewrote the constitution, we overhauled the format, and we eventually had a new Executive Board. Now it is a fifteen person association, which is great. And just through it, I have had so many different opportunites because of it. I got to sit on the Student Government Association, I got to attend ACUI Leadership in New Jersey, and I got to have so much networking throughout the school and I met people I never would have had the chance to meet.
HC: What else do you do within CSA and for other commuter students? Dakota: Right now our major focus is planning a separate commuter orientation day in July. It’s basically for incoming freshmen and it’s going to be a pre-orientation before the real orientation in August. We make that connection with them early on and we give them their schedules, play icebreakers, and help the other commuters know each other. We do that before they come to the actual orientation so they at least know each other beforehand, which is great because commuters don’t have the accommodations that residents do where you have your roommate and hall-mates. Then we do other programs throughout the semester. We have a monthly free lunch for commuters, a free snack on the third Wednesday of every month. In the Fall, we are having a Bingo night! We were the major planners along with RHA and the Women’s Center of the Super Bowl party that was in Casey’s. That was the first annual this year so we are continuing that tradition. We had a great turnout from both commuters and residents so that was exciting. We are trying to build not only a reputation among the commuter students, but we are trying to get our presence known to residential students and the rest of campus as well.
HC: With all that talk of commuting, would you ever consider maybe moving on campus?Dakota: No, but at first when I applied, I really wanted to live on campus.
There’s a really big money factor, because down the line when I go to Physicians Assistant School, not having the debt from undergrad will be a huge advantage. And…well, I really like having my own bathroom. I don’t like sharing bathrooms or spaces or things like that and it’s nice to get to go home and not have any distractions. If I’m trying to do my homework or study I can just go to my room free of distractions. And I get to see my dog everyday!
HC: That is a very good point. Is there one thing people might not know about you?Dakota: Um, I was born a red-head. That’s really exciting, I don’t know. Whenever I show people pictures they get confused and don’t think it’s me.
HC: That’s actually hysterical. Is there anyone here on campus you look up to?Dakota: I would have to say everyone in the Student Activities and Leadership Development office upstairs. Karen Keis and Lauren Dougherty just because they honestly care so much about the school and they put 110% in everything they do and they care about the students in their clubs that they advise. I think it’s great that they have that drive and that passion everyday. I like to think I have that the same care in my activities and everything that I am involved in too.
HC: Who is your favorite public figure or role model?
Dakota: This is going to be a weird answer…but Ke$ha. Everyone thinks she is this huge party girl and that she doesn’t care about anything but in reality she is so dedicated to social issues. On tumblr, you can see all of her dedication for social issues. She’s so focused on LGBT issues, gender relations, sexual violence, education, drug usage, drug education in schools and things like that. I think that is so cool because she doesn’t give off that vibe through her music. But behind the scenes she’s such a caring and kind individual.
HC: How will looking up to Ke$ha’s actions inspire you?
Dakota: for her in particular, she is a celebrity, and everyone is always analyzing every little thing that she does or says, and I think that it is so important that she does have a voice on those beliefs and stances on those issues. It’s really inspiring that she inspires everyone to have a voice on issues because people who aren’t famous or in the spotlight, they may not think that they are changing anything because they don’t think they have a voice. She really pushes for everyone to stand up for what they believe in, to state their opinion on things, to have a stance on those issues no matter who you are. I think it’s important for everyone to have a voice and an opinion because not many people really think that they do.
HC: What advice would you give to a commuter or to a first-year student on getting involved here at Siena?
Dakota: My big thing is just putting yourself out there. There are a lot of organizations on campus that are hiring and recruiting all year, so find those positions and apply for them. The club fair every semester really helped me out and allowed me to find things that I would be interested in doing. For commuters in particular I think it is important to get involved on campus. Many commuters just come to campus for classes and then go home. You really miss out on a lot because I know I didn’t find myself on campus until I got involved on campus and it made me so much happier. Just put yourself out there in your classes or just befriend someone. I know for me, a lot of the things I was involved in were from different networking and people that pushed me to apply for positions. If I hadn’t met those people, I never would have had them behind me pushing me to do that and I would not have been as driven to achieve those goals. By getting involved, you also attend events and I cannot stress how important it is to attend events. It’s important for students to go out and support different organizations on campus and without them we wouldn’t be able to put on anything.
HC: Is there a quote that you live by?
*It is important to mention that Dakota had to call his mom to remember this quote*
Dakota: Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass its about learning how to dance in the rain.