When Joe Cora walked into work at the Insect Collection one day in March, he thought it was just any other day. Little did he know he was about to receive the first Ohio State Student Employee of the Year award.
This shy computer science major said he did not know how to react to the news of winning the award.
“I thought (my boss) was joking. I don’t feel like I’m the greatest student employee at OSU,” Cora said.
Norman Johnson, the director of Insect Collection at OSU, nominated Cora in January. Johnson said Cora is a role model for other students and commends the efforts he puts forth for their research.
“He has a buoyant and enthusiastic personality,” Johnson said. “He is curious, conscientious, self-motivated and an inspiration to the other student employees. Nothing is done halfway or inattentively.”
Cora was raised in the tiny community of Lordstown, Ohio, where almost everyone in the town knew each other. This influenced his decision to come to OSU after attending Kent State University for one year.
“Sometimes you just like to fall in line and maybe fall under the radar a little bit,” Cora said. “I definitely enjoyed coming to Columbus to get away from small city life.”
Matt Senne, a senior in electrical and computer engineering, has been friends with Cora since elementary school.
“Joe is very different; I would say that he really likes to be unique,” Senne said. “He prides himself on being different from other people.”
And Cora is definitely unique – his three-legged cat, Milo, his strange sense of humor and even his job prove that, Senne said.
Cora works as a research assistant for 20 hours a week in a windowless room and spends his time categorizing 3.5 million insects. Cora’s responsibility is to enter data about bugs, which hail from around the world, into a spreadsheet.
“It really makes you appreciate bugs more,” Cora said. “There are certain characteristics of how bugs have evolved. It’s really neat.”
Through working there for the past three years, Cora has learned a thing or two about insects and even found a certain one he is partial to, he said.
“My favorite bug is a parasitic wasp. It’s a really tiny guy with a huge thorax and a small abdomen and head,” he said. “It’s one of the cutest things you could ever see.”
Cora said he will freely express his love for his work, no matter how mundane it is. It, however, was a little harder for him to express his feelings on winning the award, but during his speech at the awards presentation, it was clear that he cared, Senne said.
“We thought he was secretly excited about it,” he said. “I’ve never heard him talk so enthusiastically about anything. His enthusiasm shined through because he really enjoys his job.”
Whether he thinks he deserves it or not, Cora received a plaque and a check for $500 for his work.
“I try to do everything I can – I work everyday and come in during breaks. It’s a lot easier to do when you enjoy it,” he said. “I do a job that a lot of people would find boring.”
Cora also enjoys watching the Cartoon Network on television with his friends and spending his free time playing the guitar and the drums, as well as working on his computer.
“Joe works hard even outside of work. He writes software, creates Web sites and does a lot of computer-based work,” Senne said.
Cora is taking extra classes to minor in Japanese. No language classes are required for his major, but he wanted to see if he could handle learning a foreign language, Cora said.
“I first took it because it sounded interesting, but then I decided to go for the minor,” he said. “I just like Japan in general.”
Cora said the $500 he received as part of the award will help him go to Japan for the first time – something he has always wanted to do.
“I would really like to go to Japan and travel around for a month and see how far my knowledge will take me,” he said.
Cora walks or takes the bus because he does not have his driver’s license.
“I think it is very strange, but it suits him. It didn’t make sense to him to get a car and his driver’s license,” Senne said.
Cora said he would rather rely on mass transportation to get him where he needs to go for the rest of his life.
“I like the idea of not having my license,” he said.
That idea may be feasible for Cora, as he said he anticipates Columbus is the smallest city he will live in after he graduates next year.
“I really don’t have any clear cut plans for the future, but New York City sounds like a good place,” Cora said.
He said his future career will incorporate his computer science degree and his new-found love of insects.
“My dream job is anything that I enjoy doing, going to work and not having to dread every second,” he said. “I really enjoy what I’m doing now.”
In addition to computers and bugs, Cora likes to watch movies and sports. He said he prefers less mainstream movies like “Amelie,” as well as early Farley brothers movies, like “King Pin” and “Outside Providence.”
He is a Cleveland Indians and Cavaliers fan and shares his birthday – December 30 – with Cavalier Lebron James.
Cora said although he does like OSU itself, he is not a big fan of OSU football.
“Like on the news, I would rather hear significant news than hear about Buckeye football,” he said. “I don’t try to be like everyone else. I try to be like myself.”
Senne said Cora has an aura of hard work and fun that has helped him succeed.
“He’s really a fun guy, if you can handle that type of fun,” he said. “Most people wouldn’t get his sense of humor, but that’s what makes him stand apart from the rest of the world.”
