Dr. Abu Mboka is a professor of Criminal Justice here at Stan State. However, his journey did not start here on campus. Dr. Mboka was born and raised in Sierra Leone, Africa until he reached thirteen years old. From there he lived in many places including Liberia, Copenhagen, Denmark and then finally the United States.
Growing up Dr. Mboka’s original plan was to become a lawyer, due to his love for law. After receiving his master’s degree, and working in the criminal justice field; his plans soon changed.
“I actually studied communications hoping to go to law school, but because I was working in law enforcement at the time, by the time I got to my master’s I realized fully what law school was about. [I] thought I was better off with a PhD because law school is equivalent to a master’s degree,” Dr. Mboka said.
Before earning his PhD, Dr. Mboka received two undergraduate degrees in two years. He then went on to get his master’s and PhD all at Arizona State University. As a student, Dr. Mboka was not a procrastinator and constantly tells his students to work ahead.
He said, “I tell my students that when I was assigned a paper in a class I would work on that paper the same day so I would have a draft ready maybe three to four weeks into the semester. [Then] I could ask the professor questions to keep making it better until it was due.”
When Dr. Mboka was ready to begin teaching, he had three options in three different regions. His options were Minnesota, Massachusetts, and of course Stan State. He chose Stan State due to the weather in Minnesota being too cold, and his difficulty pronouncing Massachusetts.
“ I realized I can’t pronounce the state correctly. So if I go there it will be a nightmare for the rest of my life,” Dr. Mboka said.
Dr, Mboka also chose Stan State because he wanted to be in a more liberal state with more diversity. The weather is also a bonus for him.
Before his time here at Stan State he worked in Arizona at an adult correctional facility as well as a juvenile facility.
“I liked working with juveniles more because it was more interactive and juveniles are better criminals than the adults,” he said.
He also liked working with juveniles more because he felt like he was making a difference, “Juveniles when you work with them you get a little sense you can make a difference in somebody’s life and in adults you don’t really have much. You get a feedback and its refreshing,” said Dr. Mboka.
Some students say Dr. Mboka’s classes are hard or unfair. Since his classes are in the criminal justice department, Dr. Mboka tries to prepare students to help put order into society as well as handling people’s lives.
“I learned from working in [the] system that as a criminal justice major, correctional officer, police officer, [or] probations [that] you are working with human’s lives. The things you do at work affects real people. If you lock up the wrong individual, the impact of that will affect the family, individual and their own kids. You are dealing with generations upon generations in terms of the decisions you make. If they [the student] are not fully equipped they can destroy that person’s life,” said Dr. Mboka.
Some of Dr. Mboka’s students may think he is tough but he never wants to be tough, he said, “When I worked in corrections, youths would refer [to] me as cool but, evil. I don’t think I ever want to become tough. I feel really, really offended if I catch myself giving someone a point they do not deserve or did not work for. It will make me sick.”
Despite what some students may say, Stan State alumna, Jessica Garcia, took Risk Youth in the Fall of 2018 with Dr. Mboka. Even though Dr. Mboka is a tough grader, she thinks he is one of the best professors in the department because of his effective teaching style.
“He’s very informative and used real life scenarios, which helps a lot when it comes to remembering. You really understand how the material will later affect you in your career which is very helpful,” Garcia said.
Once in retirement Dr. Mboka plans to go to the mall every weekend to tell kids that Santa clause is not real, “I tell my friends and my class I will be going to the mall telling kids that Santa is fake on weekends. That’s what I will be doing. However, I think I will be spending more time doing research and writing,” Dr. Mboka said.
California will forever be his home and a place to go back to but some days he may go back to Sierra Leone. He said that life in Africa is easier when you are old. You can goof around and cause trouble instead of being in a senior home.
