Matthew Rodrigues is a senior at John F. Kennedy Memorial High School. Rodrigues is an amazing student-athlete where he is a member of the soccer team, track team and wrestling team. He ran for Mr. JFK where he won the talent portion for his Rubik’s cube wizardry. He is attending college at Rider University in hopes of becoming a math teacher.
What’s your favorite show and why?
Rodrigues: I’m gonna say “Mob Psycho 100” or “Cowboy Bebop”. It’s a great show with great characters. Everybody should watch them.
What do you like about JFK and why?
I like the teachers and the staff were very supportive, especially my coaches and my teachers. Mr. Migacz was both a coach and a teacher of mine, and he taught me a lot in the classroom, on the field and in the weight room and I am grateful for that.
You play three sports. If you could only pick one, which would you choose and why?
If I had to choose, it would be Track and Field [discus] because that’s the one I find the most fun. If I spent a lot more time practicing, I’d be doing a lot better as a senior. That’s the sport I would commit more time to if I could.
You want to be a math teacher. Who is the person/people that pushed you on this path the most?
I would say generally just all the good teachers I’ve had over the years. In middle school, I had Mr. Aria for English and even though I don’t like English, I really liked his class, and I like him as a teacher. In eighth grade I had Mr. Dosh. He was a good teacher. Then obviously Mr. McGroarty, he’s the GOAT of math.
Have you ever had to deal with a lot of stress and how do you handle it?
I don’t think I feel stress as much as a normal person does. I don’t know if I ignore it or I just don’t have it. I like to go with the flow and not stress about things.
Is there any class or teacher that you would warn any incoming freshmen about?
Well, most of the classes I don’t like, are required to take. There is no class that I would tell people not to take. I can’t tell them not to take the required classes. I guess, if you don’t like writing, don’t take AP Lang. The exam was hard.
What excites you the most about college and the future?
Excited wouldn’t be the word I would use, but moving away is going to be new to me, and living on my own is going to be different. I guess you could say I’m excited to learn how to live on my own.
What’s your best/favorite accomplishment you have?
Having the #1 talent for Mr. JFK.
So your favorite teacher is Mr. McGroarty. Why and what does he mean to you?
He’s really good at teaching. He makes sure that everyone understands and will go over things. If people have questions, he’ll write all over the board just to explain any question that they have. He makes a lot of jokes, his class is also fun because he’s not serious all the time.
What would you tell your past self if you could?
I wouldn’t want to change anything because I like where I ended up.
Why do you like Converse so much?
They go with everything, I used to own white vans, and all white shoes were too much white. So this is more simple and classic. They’re not the most comfortable, but that’s okay.
