The following article was published as a part of The Seminole’s 2013 April Fool’s issue! The information, quotations, statistics, and other content is completely fictitious and should not be considered a true representation of the school, the administration, or other governing entities.
Matthias “Matt” Rosso is like most teenagers in some ways. He’s a huge soccer—or, as they say in his home country, football—fan. Days he doesn’t have school he loves sleeping in and staying up late. He’s just an average seventeen-year-old boy—with one exception. He’s a professional male model who has modeled for some of the world’s hottest brands since he was fourteen. He is also a senior here at Seminole.
When asked about his early life, Rosso said, “I grew up in Vitória with my grandmother. When I was thirteen or fourteen, I went through this crazy stage where I grew a lot. One day I was shopping with my grandmother and a woman approached us. She asked me if I had considered modeling. I didn’t know what to say because no boy grows up thinking about a career as a model.” With the encouragement of his grandmother, Rosso decided to take up the offer.
Rosso said, “I was scouted by Ford and they gave me a contract. It all started from there.” The last three years have been a whirlwind of modeling campaigns, traveling, interviews, and photo shoots. “Carbon Copy magazine gave me a modeling breakthrough,” he explained.
After Carbon Copy, Rosso started gaining more popularity in his hometown. “It got a little crazy how things happened so fast,” he commented. As his fame increased, so did the modeling offers. “I think I was fifteen when I traveled to Europe for the first time,” Rosso said. “My grandmother told me I needed to go. I think I would say that I was never fully sure about what I wanted to do with modeling. I was just kind of there in the modeling world.”
Finally convinced, Rosso headed to Paris to model for Lanvin. Rosso said, “It’s a beautiful city. I can see why people love it. The excitement got to me, and that’s when I knew I wanted to continue modeling. I was about fifteen at the time, about to turn sixteen.”
If Rosso loves modeling so much, how did he end up here, at Seminole? When asked, he smiled sheepishly. “I have my grandmother to credit for that. The modeling life was demanding. There would be weeks that I wouldn’t be home because of the jobs. She wanted me to settle down, get an education, and have a ‘normal’ life before I become an adult.”
He continued by saying “Coming to Seminole was a break from that life. I have cousins that live here.” Rosso’s two cousins, freshman Melanie Rosso and senior Marco Rosso are Seminole students.
Melanie Rosso said, “Matt came to live with us to finish up his education. I think Florida sounded perfect to him—it’s sunny and tropical here, which is his favorite kind of weather, but it’s also quiet here.”
To uphold the quiet life, Rosso said he took measures before enrolling in Seminole. “I wanted to make sure no one recognized me as the guy who is a model. I’m just Matt, a teenager like everyone else.” To change his appearance, Rosso wears his glasses instead of his contacts and dyed his hair a darker shade than its original medium brown.
“I just want a peaceful time here,” Rosso explained. “It’s not like I’m undercover. I just make an effort not to be seen as Matt the model. A couple of times, I’ve thought people knew who I was and if they had said anything, I wouldn’t have denied who I was. But no one asked.”
Why expose himself to Seminole’s unsuspecting population now? When asked, Rosso reminisced on a childhood memory. “My favorite book is one I read in sixth grade titled Medo [medo means fear in Portuguese]. The book was about living life with no what-ifs. It stuck with me, so that’s what I try to do.”
Rosso said that he doesn’t want to face the what-if of revealing his identity while in high school. He’s grown to love Seminole, and since he’s graduating soon, he said he might as well reveal his identity.
“I don’t want any possibility to go unexplored. Yes, I’m a model, which may set me apart from everyone at Seminole. But I’m a student like everyone else, stressed about the same assignments and homework and tests. And I have my own dreams and career plans, even if they may not be conventional such as going to college,” he explained.
After graduating, Rosso wants to break into the American modeling world. He’s in talks with Hollister and Calvin Klein at the moment, with agreements to model for both brands after he graduates in May.
Principal Mike Gadreau said, “For the time that I’ve been principal at Seminole High School, we get students from all different backgrounds and experiences. Matt is a unique member of our student body.”
“Now that he’s opened up about his modeling, I know that Seminole will embrace him and accept him just as they have been doing,” he remarked.