C. KELLE LONG
Staff writer
Everyone in the small Pepperdine community might consider themselves a part of the “family,” but one student is certain she has the Pepperdine spirit pumping through her veins.
Senior Katie Rokus is a typical Pepperdine student with a unique tie to the University that is often overlooked. This cheerful “girl-next-door” is a member of the Waves soccer team that plays on Tari Frahm Rokus field. What’s the connection? The field’s namesake, Tari, is Katie’s mother.
The Rokus family has been dedicated in their support of Pepperdine since Tari and her husband, Joe, attended the university in the 1970s. In 1998, Joe was on the Pepperdine Board of Regents and the Rokus’ saw a great need for a new soccer field.
Long before Katie ever considered playing soccer for the school, the Rokus family decided to help.
Katie winced as she recalled the condition of the field. “The old field was so bad that people would refuse to come and play for Pepperdine,” she said.
Katie’s cousin, by marriage, was on the women’s soccer team. The Rokus’ came to support her and met the coach, Tim Ward.
“We were drawn to his Christian morals and supported the direction of the program,” Katie said.
Neither Joe nor Tari played soccer at Pepperdine, but there was a need, and they were willing to help. The Rokus’ decided to dedicate a brand new soccer field, which, in turn, was named in Tari’s honor. Though it might appear that this would give Katie an automatic “in” to be on the team, that was far from the case.
Katie says she has had a passion for soccer since she was 5 years old, but soccer was not the reason she decided to attend Pepperdine.
“It’s a lot like me. It’s a very family-oriented school,” Katie said, referring also to the Christian atmosphere.
Katie decided to come to Pepperdine, whether or not she would be playing soccer, but her freshman year the team coincidentally was in need of a goalkeeper.
“Things just worked out,” Katie said.
During all four years on the team, Katie acquired no collegiate minutes until this season. She actively played in the spring each year, but had never before played for Pepperdine in the fall, which is the official women’s soccer season. Katie remained unfazed and upheld an undying support for her teammates, who named her “Wave of the Year” in 2004.
Katie racked up her first collegiate minutes Sunday when the Waves took on Saint Mary’s. Katie played for the second half, and the team came out with a 5-1 win.
Katie denies any frustration regarding the lack of time she’s played.
“I love my team and I love the Pepperdine soccer tradition,” she said. “I came in knowing I’d have to fight for my spot.”
The Rokus family comes to support Katie at nearly every game in both the fall and spring.
Katie professes that attending Pepperdine is truly a family affair.
“I’ve had my parents, siblings, cousins, and it seems like everyone in my family come to Pepperdine,” she said shaking her head and adding jokingly, “I feel like our blood is blue and orange.”
Katie’s dedication to academics run as deep as Pepperdine does in her veins. She certainly has no small dreams or aspirations. She is a political science major with some impressive goals.
“I would love to be president,” Katie said.
“I could convince anyone to be a political science major,” she adds nonchalantly. “I’m torn between being a teacher and ‘just’ going to Africa. You know, cure AIDS, end genocides, that sort of thing.”
It’s exactly “that sort of thing” that makes the Rokus family stand out. They are driven and generous, but insist on being humble as well. Katie never openly tells anyone about her family’s donation.
“Surprisingly, people don’t make the connection,” Katie said. “Occasionally people will randomly come up and ask if there is a relation.”
Katie has a few other surprises. She has a secret desire to be a star and admits she’s always wanted to perform on Broadway.
“I’d prefer to play Annie, but I’d take anything,” she confesses. She even admits that she has a flair for Hallmark cards and “anything corny.”
Part of Katie’s allure is that she has never met a stranger. When her outgoing nature is mentioned, the entire family erupts in their own version of the “Santa Story.”
As a very young child, Katie went to the mall to visit Santa, but before she had even crossed the street, she spotted Kriss Kringle himself. Instead of crying in fear, or selfishly asking for the latest Barbie, Katie rushed the Big Man with sincerity to ask how his year had been.
Katie has a constant energy that can’t be ignored, according to her mother. “We have five kids, and you can always tell when Katie is here. It’s like a tornado,” Tari said.
“She’s just got a big heart,” said Katie’s older sister, Jaime.
The rest of the Rokus’ agree.
With all of her talents and passions, Katie has several paths from which to choose. Whether she plays the next little orphan Annie on Broadway, turns out to be the first female President of the United States, or becomes a history professor, she has much to teach through her passion and humility.
The words Katie lives by are, “Why not do something you love every day?”
To her, it is a simple justification for everything she does, but to everyone else, these words should serve as a great lesson in the key to happiness.
11-15-2007