After spending the last seven years completing his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania, Hawaii-native Dr. Micah Del Rosario will join the upper school as an English teacher this fall. He is excited to teach both Fourth and Fifth Formers this year and, if circumstances permit, coach JV tennis in the spring.
Dr. Del Rosario recently discovered his enjoyment teaching while working toward his doctorate.
“Part of the program is teaching undergraduates at the college as a graduate student,” Dr. Del Rosario said. “I enjoyed that part of being a graduate student more than I enjoyed the academic research part, so I wanted to pursue a teaching job.”
A lifer at a private, independent, K-12 school in Hawaii, Dr. Del Rosario hails from an environment similar to Haverford’s.
“I know that a private independent school is fortunate to be able to have a tight-knit community and a set of common values, and that’s a great environment to be both a student and teacher,” Dr. Del Rosario said. “I’ve already heard from so many faculty that the students here are great, and for anyone who is a teacher that is the most important thing. It makes our lives easier and it makes our job more fun and exciting.”
While Dr. Del Rosario is familiar with independent schools, he faces a new challenge at Haverford: teaching in an all-boys environment.
“I think we’re in a world where we need to have great men and be thinking about what it means to be men and masculinity. Teaching at an all-boys school is a great place to be able to broaden people’s horizons and be a good role model,” Dr. Del Rosario said.
“Reading literature, discussing literature, and writing are great ways to teach people very important life skills.”
Dr. Micah DEl Rosario
Although he recently discovered his enjoyment of teaching, Dr. Del Rosario has always had a passion for English.
“Reading literature, discussing literature, and writing are great ways to teach people very important life skills,” Dr. Del Rosario said. “Partly, something like how to write . . . but I also mean things like the ability to think about culture and society and all parts of your life that are not necessarily objective.”
He added, “We’re dealing with stories about people and history and relationships and there are gray areas to it. It’s complicated and messy and you have to be able to think and deal with problems that don’t necessarily have an objective, correct answer, and that’s going to happen in life all the time.”
Through his class, Dr. Del Rosario hopes to support students as they consider these complex ideas.
“Every time we’re sitting down to discuss a book and listening to someone else’s interpretation of something,” Dr. Del Rosario said, “we’re thinking: ‘how does that inform or change my perspective?’ It teaches us really great skills that you need to be a human being in the world.”
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