In typical Herbie fashion, this campus cutie walked into his interview with a huge smile on his face, despite the fact that is was 11:00 pm on a dark, chilly night. Herbie embodies all the values that make Brandeis unique, which is probably why he has held nearly every prestigious leadership position this university has to offer, including First Year Orientation Coordinator, Student Union President, and captain of his dodge ball team freshman year, among others. When Herbie isn’t making the crowd laugh in an undergraduate theater production, proudly explaining that his hometown is the location of the famous Mayo clinic, or explaining the meaning of horcruxes to the less-knowledgable Harry Potter fans, he is balancing his ridiculous amount of extracurricular activities while still managing to complete his major and a triple minor! Impressive. Lumos, collegiates! Sit back, relax, and let President Herbie Rosen light up your world!
Name: Herbie Rosen
Class: 2012
Hometown: Rochester, Minnesota (home to the Mayo clinic)
Major: American Studies major, Journalism, Legal Studies, and Theater minors
On-campus activities: Student Union, Undergraduate Theater Clubs [specifically as BET (Brandeis Ensemble Theater)], an improv group (Crowd Control), Orientation Leader, Admissions tour guide, active in Hillel and Waltham Group (Volunteer Vacations), swim team, intramurals, and running club.
Favorite book: Harry Potter #7. It is the most emotional book I’ve ever read. I was shaking.
Favorite movie: ‘Remember the Titans’ is such a damn good movie. It’s pretty inspirational.
Favorite quote: My grandpa used to sent me post cards when I was little with cliché sayings on them, and some of them hang on my wall for inspiration.
Current favorite song: I don’t have iTunes, I actually still use a CD player but maybe something by Black Eyed Peas or musical theater. I have really odd tastes in music…
Favorite leadership role you’ve held: I’m hoping it’ll be Student Union President. It’s been challenging and rewarding at the same time, but coordinator of Orientation was a tremendous experience, as well. I learned my fault and learned to take steps and deal with them as coordinator. It was tremendous to watch the end result, with a great core of my friends, plus the fantastic OLs facilitating the entrance of 800 something students. It was really cool! It has impacted how I lead and will hopefully impact how I run the Student Union. Though, I was captain of my dodge ball team freshman year, and that was also fun.
Future goals/aspirations: I want to have a life after college, find something I really want to do after Brandeis and use what I’ve learned here to the best extent. I just need to start creating a game plan for my future and do my best to be as happy and successful as I can and get the most out of life. In terms of short-term goals, I want people to be proud of their student government at the end of this academic year. There’s a lot of apathy on this campus and I want to show people this is a different year, a turning point for the Student Union. I don’t think there’s been a turning point yet and I want this to be it. Also I have a Brandeis bucket list, it’s my senior year after all.
Plans for after graduation: Whoever will take me! Law history, education, activism, business; I just want to do something where I’ll be useful and I’ll enjoy it.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years: Hopefully fit, content, on my way to starting a family, if not already with a young family, and helping them build their futures so they can have the same opportunities I did, if not better. And just enjoying life like I enjoy it now.
If you could sum up your life as you see it in one song: The musical score/orchestra piece of ‘Remember the Titans’
An interesting fact people don’t know: I love cookie monster from Sesame Street! He’s the funniest thing ever.
Where on campus do you feel most at home: Just walking all over when the weather is nice. The castle is cool; I always identified with it. That’s actually one of the reasons why I came here. Oh, and the theater.
One thing you regret not trying thus far at Brandeis: I would have liked to take a David Hackett Fisher class. I took one for two days but dropped it. Also, I would have liked to be in a Gordie Fellman class as well. No strong regrets though. But I did always kind of want to play Tron at some point, so maybe I’ll try that at some point next semester.
One thing you’ve tried at Brandeis that you never expected you’d do: Liquid Latex
Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, or Ravenclaw: I have to say Gryffindor, but I think the hat would put me in Ravenclaw. Gryffindor is all about the hero but they’re kind of vain. Ravenclaw is like the Brandeis house (and we even have the same colors!).
How did you feel when you found out you’d been waitlisted at Hogwarts? Waitlisted doesn’t mean denied so I was proud of that fact. I did get a little excited every time I heard an owl, but that’s about it. But I picked the better school.
If you could create a horcrux to attain immortality and hide it anywhere on campus, where would it be? Hopefully I haven’t killed anyone to be able to do that, but I’d put it around the castle, because it’s the castle and I just have to. Or maybe the Rose Art Museum.
Do you believe in magic? Yeah, sometimes. It’s fun
Harry potter movie: Emma Watson is a very talented actress. Maggie Smith (Professor McGonnagal) was awesome, but the books are always better than the movies
Any advice for the first year students: Relax, breathe and appreciate the opportunity in front of you.
If you could play 1v1 against any administrator, who would it be? With the intent to win? I don’t know, maybe someone in Student Activities. I played against Steph Grimes in Hoops for Haiti last year. I thought if I kept talking to her I’d be able to get the ball past her, but she’s actually pretty good. I guess I’d want to take on Steph Grimes, or Father Walter Cuenin, the Catholic Chaplain. He’s got a great shot.