Meet Rosie, the driving force behind student support

**content warning- mention of suicide**

Adam von Sternenfels Rosenthal, more known as “Rosie” by the San Domenico community, has become a supportive pillar of the community in the year he has worked for the school. Rosenthal joined San Domenico as an academic coach and the women’s lacrosse coach.

Rosenthal has been a massive asset to the mental health of students on campus and he explained that in school, he was curious about what makes people feel safe in their community and what makes him, in particular, extremely stressed. 

“I tried to be in communities and environments where I could learn about healthy practices and guidelines that were conducive to positive mental health,” Rosenthal said.

Rosenthal’s main motivation for working with mental health is an extremely personal tragedy. 

“My younger brother ended his life three years ago,” Rosenthal shared. “Before that, he struggled with mental health for a long time and so I would say I dedicate my work now to his memory.”

Rosenthal’s work and purpose have certainly done a lot of good at San Domenico. He has also been very well-received by students and teachers, in particular by his fellow academic coaches. 

Nora Nemiroff, an academic counselor and literacy specialist at San Domenico, describes Rosenthal as an enthusiastic force on campus. 

“He’s very curious and asks really good questions… he’s always looking for the bright side of things,” Nemiroff said. 

Students and teachers alike described Rosenthal as extremely positive. Jacob Wulfstat, a freshman at San Domenico, agrees that, “He’s super funny, has so much passion.. he’s very, very positive.”

Wulfstat added that, “Rosie is the most helpful person I know on this campus. Whenever I have a late assignment or something very stressful that I have to do, he’s there.”

Rosenthal’s work in student support has been extremely notable and has affected students across campus. Rosenthal also shared that his favorite part of working with students is “seeing that moment when a student realizes that they are as brilliant as everyone else thinks they are.” 

One of Rosenthal’s many contributions to the school has been the creation of the lacrosse program. Rosenthal played lacrosse in college and brought it with him to San Domenico, which was extremely popular in its first year. 

“My main intention coming to San Domenico was just to create a fun experience for people who are curious about one of the oldest games in North America,” Rosenthal explained. “That was an exciting thing for me to do, to share something that was started by the Iroquois tribe and share a game that’s considered to be medicine by some people.”

Rosenthal’s approach to creating the girls team was to begin with the basics to help players learn as they go.

“I think going back to the basics and starting from the bottom up is a really refreshing and exciting thing, especially after two years of Covid,” he said. 

Rosenthal also said that he “had a great time” with the first year of girl’s lacrosse and the feeling was mutual with many of the players on the team. Rosenthal’s work in academic coaching and mental health helped him become more understanding of the mental health aspect of the sport.

“Rosie was an awesome guy to have as a coach because he genuinely cares about his players,” Nina Polyakova said, a junior who played the goalie position on the girls lacrosse team last year. “He doesn’t [just] care about your physical stature but also how you are doing mentally, which makes him a very reliable coach.”

Rosenthal’s work in the lacrosse program has also carried over to his position as an academic counselor. Aspects of sports- like feedback and a drive for improvement- are qualities that Rosenthal displays both on and off the field.

“I think being a lacrosse coach gives him a mindset that he is able to be coachable,” Nemiroff said. “He knows how to coach students, and he also likes being coached by peers and colleagues so he’s really open to feedback to improve.”

Overall, it is widely agreed that Rosenthal has been an incredibly positive influence on the San Domenico community and that “he’s just awesome,” according to Wulfstat.

Wulfstat also mentioned that Rosenthal is “the best rapper on earth” and if you give him a word, he can freestyle about it within seconds. San Domenico has to hope he doesn’t quit to become a rapper because Rosenthal’s positive presence would surely be missed.