Kokui Adesokan ’07
I grew up in Togo, on the west coast of Africa. My father immigrated to the United States a few years before my mom did, and then, a few years later, we came — my brother, my sister and me. I was 16.
After one year at Springfield High School of Science and Technology, I was ready for college, but, I thought, what is college? My dad went to school back home. He understood the system there, but here there was no one to guide me and help me figure out what to do first, second, third. At Holyoke Community College, there was ESL support. It was a place to get your foot in, start taking classes, and figure out what you want to do.
I wanted to be a business major, because, back home, when I was younger, I would always sell things like sugar candy and try to make money. I thought, I’ll be an entrepreneur.
Math was something I always enjoyed, and it’s universal, even if you don’t speak good English. I took enough math classes for my business major, but I wanted more. My counselor said, if you want to take more math, you should look into engineering. I said, sure, what’s engineering?
I did a lot of research. It seemed like you could do a lot of different things with engineering, different career realms. The starting salaries were good, and it could provide a good foundation.
“HCC played a huge role in shaping my future. It was the first place that saw my potential and gave me the foundation to thrive.”
Kokui Adesokan
Gail Hilyard, coordinator of the Math Center, was instrumental to my career. I spent a lot of time in there for tutoring. She would take the engineering students on field trips to other schools to see where to go when we were ready to transfer. I went to UMass.
There are not a lot of women or women of color in engineering, but that didn’t become apparent to me until later on, when I started working. I thought, OK, there’s not a lot of people that look like me here, but I’m here, right? That’s one of the reasons why I enjoy speaking and inspiring others to pursue engineering careers.
As an immigrant who didn’t know how to navigate the education system, HCC saved me a lot of money. I was working two jobs, one at Target. I didn’t have a car for the first year, so I had to take the bus from Springfield.
The counselors were very helpful. I didn’t know anything about financial aid and all that stuff. I paid everything out of pocket.
I graduated from UMass with my bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. A special internship program called Inroads helped me land a full-time job at a renewable energy company in South Windsor, Connecticut. That’s where I started my career.
Recently, I started a venture called Lead with Kokui. I’ve always enjoyed speaking and teaching and coaching others, because I didn’t really have a map for how to navigate my career. Lead with Kokui is a platform to help others navigate their careers with more confidence.
I’m glad I started at HCC. People seem to look at community college as, you know, not like the big dog of schools. But it helped me, and I’ve been in spaces with people from the big schools.
Going to a community college doesn’t mean you’re less than. Over the years, I’ve learned to embrace that story, the story of an African immigrant who has an accent, who started at community college. Heck, I graduated with honors from here, and it helped me start my journey. It’s not something to look down upon, but something
to celebrate.”
Kokui (Dzefi) Adesokan is technical project manager for Bridgewater Associates and a frequent STEM conference speaker. She holds an MBA from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and sits on the Dean’s Advisory Council for the Riccio College of Engineering at UMass Amherst.
My HCC Story narratives are adapted from alumni interviews with Connection editor Chris Yurko.
