Ancient cultures, Mothman legend fascinate Kira Rossi of New Philadelphia High School

Editor's Note: The Times-Reporter is profiling one senior from each of the school districts in Tuscarawas County coinciding with graduation. They were nominated by school administrators.

NEW PHILADELPHIA ‒ Kira Rossi, a senior at New Philadelphia High School, has a wide variety of interests ‒ ancient cultures, languages, music and weird stories from history.

Rossi, the daughter of Paul and Danielle Rossi, plans on attending Ohio University to study anthropology and linguistics. She hopes to become a professor someday, though she doesn't know yet what she wants to teach.

"I've always been really fascinated by human culture and learning specifically about ancient cultures," she said. "Recently, I have been doing just minor fun little research watching videos on YouTube about archaeology. I'd really love to study that and explore that. Also, with the linguistics part, I'm really interested in how culture is impacted by language and how language impacts culture. That's an intersection I'd really like to explore."

Love of ancient cultures

She has been fascinated by ancient cultures since she was in elementary school.

"One thing that really got me into anthropology was when I was in third or fourth grade, I became really interested in ancient Egypt," she said. "My family got me all these books and everything, and I learned how to write in ancient Egypt hieroglyphics. I would write my name and write my friends secret messages. Ancient Egypt has a really important place in my heart, a really special place in my heart because of that history. I am still really fascinated by it."

Senior spotlight: Dover High School senior Aiden Springer uses love of music and engineering to help others

She is fluent enough in French to be able to read and write in the language. Though she has never been to France, she went on a trip with the French Club to Quebec province, the French-speaking part of Canada.

"I was able to speak French to some of the locals there, and it was fun. I understood them, and they seemed to understand me," Rossi said.

She would like to go to France someday, because one of her goals is to study abroad. "I'd like to go to see the castles in the Loire River valley," she added.

Her interest in music began when she was young. When she was 6 or 7, her family was going through her grandparents' house, and they found her mother's old guitar. Rossi immediately wanted to play it, taking lessons to help her. She still plays guitar from time to time.

She is in the marching band, symphonic band and the steel drum band. She plays clarinet in the marching band, oboe in the symphonic band and the double tenors in steel drum band. She is also a band aide for the seventh-grade steel drum class, helping teach the students rhythms when the director isn't there.

Weird stories

Rossi said she is fascinated by weird things in history.

"I'm fascinated by Mothman," she said of a mysterious creature that supposedly was seen in the Point Pleasant, W.Va., area in 1966 and 1967.

"In 2019, I went to the Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant, W.Va. It was a very fascinating people-watching experience. People were dressed up as Mothman. It was really fun."

Outside of school, she likes to read and paint and draw. She said she's not good at painting, but it's a good stress reliever. She also recently picked up crocheting.

'Let yourself make mistakes'

What advice does she have for students coming up after her?

"I think the biggest advice for upcoming seniors and for just people in high school in general is to try new things and to not be afraid to put yourself out there," Rossi said. "When I was a freshman, I was really scared of messing up and making mistakes. Throughout my high school career, I learned that that's normal and to err is to be human.

"You can't live life to the fullest if you don't put yourself out there and let yourself make mistakes. That attitude really made me a better section leader in marching band, and I think it made me a better person in general. So, ultimately, don't be afraid to make mistakes."

Reach Jon at 330-364-8415 or at jon.baker@timesreporter.com.

This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: New Philadelphia's Kira Rossi fascinated by ancient cultures, Mothman