For the first time in four years, when Kokko Tso walks his two-block commute to campus every morning, he’s not on his way to classes.
After graduating last spring, Tso was hired by the college as Web Content Manager.
“This position is very much a facilitator: kind-of creating content and facilitating the dialogue between the professors and the people who actually run the system,” Tso said of his current job. “Long story short, I got hired.”
The job was an unexpected step for Tso, who was initially considering law school or a position as a legal assistant.
“I never thought I’d end up in marketing,” he said.
Tso worked as an intern at the Kirby Center during the summer of 2012, followed by an internship during his senior year working for Director of Marketing Bill Gray. His work involved editing video footage for Kirby Center videos and Constitution 101 Online Courses, as well as researching college history. Last spring, Gray recommended that he apply for his current Web Content Manager position.
“It was a little bit of an awkward transition at first,” Tso said. “It’s different to be on campus and not be a student.”
Tso’s goal is to bring Hillsdale to life on the new website, creating content that highlights the activities of professors and students. He sees the website as more than a repository of information, hoping to give visitors a window into the world of Hillsdale.
“We want it to be a very targeted, well-designed, focused, experience,” Tso said. “Sort of like the core curriculum of the liberal arts: it’s not just a buffet of things you can pick and choose, but it’s well-designed and has purpose – ‘telos’, as Dr. Arnn would say,” Tso said.
The content management position plays well to Tso’s strengths.
“He tends to dream big,” former roommate and Senior Viktor Rozsa said. “He has big ideas. He’s a very visionary person. This visionary type of job is good for him.”
Despite his change in occupation, Tso remains busy, though perhaps not quite as busy as during his college years.
“His sleep schedule is insane,” remembers about Tso’s time as a student. “His average bedtime is about 4:00 a.m.”
While rooming together, Rozsa and Tso were also fellow members of the orchestra. “I play the cello and he plays the violin,” Rozsa said. “I think the plan was that we would play duets in our room.”
Tso originally applied to Hillsdale as an afterthought.
“The music program was a huge part of how I ended up here,” he said. “They were very generous of their scholarship to me.”
Although interested in music, Tso didn’t plan on pursuing a career in it.
“He came in saying ‘I am not going to major in music,’” Music Department Chair James Holleman said, “And of course that became one of his three majors.”
“I barely survived,” Tso laughed. He graduated last spring with majors in History, Latin, and Music. “I used to joke that he had 7 or 8,” Holleman said.
Tso was busy with extracurriculars as well.
“He likes to be busy,” Holleman said. “He had lots of irons in the fire. We would encourage him to do less and focus on priorities, but that’s a lesson each student has to learn.”
He served on Student Federation for a year and helped start the Hillsdale Camerata, a club to encourage musical knowledge and appreciation.
“He’s a king of procrastination,” Rozsa said. “His mind is like a tornado: chaotic, powerful, and always on the move.”
Tso was also concertmaster of the College Symphony Orchestra for three semesters.
“He’s an amazing musician,” Rozsa said. “The way he could lead an orchestra was exceptional.”
Tso fondly remembers the time he spent in Top Student String Quartet playing for college functions both in Hillsdale and Washington D.C.
“He was always in a hurry to get somewhere,” Holleman laughed. “I would see him just running past the music building. He wanted to take advantage of everything Hillsdale had to offer.”
Working in an office instead of a study room has given Tso a new perspective.
“It’s been a very helpful experience to see both sides of the coin,” he said. “As a student it’s very easy to criticize how the college is run. But when you’re on the other end of things, I think you begin to realize how hard the staff and administration works to make sure that everything that we do as students and as professors is possible.”
Also a new experience as Web Content Manager was reviewing nearly 100 applications and hiring employees to compose a web marketing team.
“It’s a little of a weird dynamic,” Tso said. “Especially once you have interns writing ‘Mr. Tso’ in their emails – or ‘Mrs. Tso’ in the case of one student.”
Tso’s friends still in the student body enjoy having Tso still around.
“I’m actually working for him,” Tso’s friend David Graber said. “I’ve been to his office a couple of times.”
Though the transition has been awkward at times, Tso’s new role at Hillsdale has been a positive change.
Tso said he owes a lot to Craig McNutt, his superior in the Web Development Department.
“He gave me a chance,” Tso said. “He took a gamble on a recent grad who had no experience in web development whatsoever. And I’m very grateful to him for it.”
