Joey Koch ’19 brings more meaning to the words “good kid”

Joey balances finding time to follow his passion and find time to unwind, all while still bringing the life to the party.

As he sits at the piano, junior Joey Koch’s fingers ghost over the keys, his head down, his eyebrows furrowed in thought, as if he’s trying to remember the melody of a song.

When Koch finally looks up from the piano with a grin across his face, and with a story to tell. “I remember in the third grade I pulled a classic: I pooped my pants,” he said.

As a self-proclaimed extrovert, Koch is always trying to bring humor to a situation. He thinks of himself as a storyteller. “I pooped my pants once,” he reminisced. “So you know, I asked to go to the bathroom, made the long walk down the hallway. Yeah it was pretty bad so I wanted to the nurse and… got cleaned up.”

Joey found recanting this story hilarious.

“It wasn’t funny then, but it’s funny now,” he said. “I could’ve told you a different story but that’s what came to my head first. Because it was about me.”

Koch loves a good laugh, and is always willing to provide one in his particular style of humor. “I like to make jokes and make people laugh… sarcastic jokes, you know, keeping a straight face, and with a sarcastic [delivery],” Koch said.

Joey feels that his take on humor fits especially well with his Malvern peers. “[I feel like] sarcasm is part of the Malvern culture,” Koch said. “Making fun of the things that aren’t okay, but become okay because of the sarcasm.”

The humor that Koch provides makes him a enjoyable person to be around, which shows. “I like entertaining people and people like to be entertained. So I [think] people like to be around me, he said. “I’m a good guy, who is easy to talk to, and fun person. I entertain a lot in my house. People like coming to my house to hang out, [and] it’s a fun time.”

Friend and fellow junior, Jackson Powers thinks similarly. “What can I say, he’s a good kid.” Powers said.

This leads up to the Joey many recognize today: a light-hearted jokester who can always be on the lookout for a good joke. What some may not say is a kid who can appreciate moments of solitude.

“I have a lot of introverted tendencies. Most of the time I like to be alone. On the weekends, if I don’t have to do anything, I like to chill out by myself,” Koch said.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“Trust The Process.”

-Joey Koch ’19

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“I like to spend my free time play video games,” Joey said. “On Xbox, I like to play Call of Duty, and of course Fortnite… that’s about it right now.”

Aside from gaming, Joey appreciates the time he gets to spend making music.

“I like to play the guitar and piano,” Koch said. “When I was seven I first played the piano… I started playing the guitar freshman year.”

Joey thinks that his time spent in the Beginner Acoustic Guitar class was definitely worth it. “I took the beginning guitar class, and I really liked it so I joined the guitar ensemble. And now I play the guitar a lot,” he said.

His dedication to the instrument has also left him with some skill.

“I had picked up pretty easily and it was easy to read the music and read the guitar tabs, so I started playing the guitar on my own, Joey said. “Now, I can learn and memorize music quickly. I [also] have the main parts for all the songs in the ensemble.”

Although Koch appreciates the time he gets to spend alone, he enjoys talking with friends and meeting new people. “I enjoy different people and enjoy different personalities so… stop by if you’re ever around.”

Having time to himself allows Koch to think in depth about the more complex topics. He’s even been able to come to his own opinions for what is best for the country regarding gun violence.

“I think it’s definitely a gun problem, and people try to say it’s not and work their way around it. But at the end of the day, in reality it is,” he said. ‘People say it’s a mental health issue, which is true, but that guy wouldn’t be able to kill that many people if he didn’t have a gun.”

Unlike most people with input on the topic, Koch has a more personal experience with the issue.  

“In eighth grade when had the school shooting threat, that was pretty scary… I was in the Learning Commons,” Joey said. “I didn’t know what was going… I was in a room surrounded by glass, probably the most unsafe place to be. The door opened and it could’ve been the shooter… but it was just Mr. Dougherty.”

Koch does however, think Malvern is taking a step in the right direction. “It’s pretty sad what has happened but at the end of the day you can prevent it. We did the ALiCE training, and I think that’s a step in the right direction.”

Even though Joey can be considered as outgoing, few probably see a kid who likes to spend his time focusing on his music, or someone who has a personal opinion on the politics talked about today. “I’m just Joey,” he simply explains.

While Joey has many hopes for his music, friends, and even the country, he leaves with one piece of advice: “Trust The Process.”