There are brilliant minds and talents out there. If they don’t have the opportunities scholarships provide, then we might never experience the gifts of their potential.”
Jeff Rosick (’08) was a lousy accounting student—he said so himself.
“On the very first day of my debits and credits class, I felt so out of my element,” he said. “I was lost. I tried to pay attention for a good ten minutes, but then I started watching birds fly in an out of the trees for the rest of the class period.” As soon as the class let out, Rosick went immediately to the admin office to change his major to theater. It was a decision that had a profound impact on his Gonzaga experience as well as the trajectory of his future career in Hollywood, which has included acting credits in shows like “Friday Night Lights” and “Parenthood,” and films like “The Social Network.”
It all started at Loyola University Chicago, actually, where Rosick spent 18 months studying accounting. Coming from Catholic and Jesuit schools in Portland, Ore., Rosick wanted to continue his Jesuit education, but sought distance from his peers.
“I really dig the Jesuit tradition,” he explained. “They’re so encouraging when it comes to exploring all perspectives of life. There’s no one right way to do things and I really like that.”
His accounting major was, simply put, Rosick following the encouragement of his well-intentioned mother to “do something safe.”
“It was Greek to me,” he said of accounting. “At the same time, I was also realizing that Loyola wasn’t for me either. I expected a different sense of community than I found there.” Rosick gave it his best effort, but after a year, he decided to look at some other Jesuit schools—Gonzaga being one of them.
“When I visited a few friends at Gonzaga, it was like Christmas. I thought right away, ‘this is EXACTLY what I’m looking for,’” he recalled. “It was so easy to get involved. Here was this compact community of people where everyone is so nice to one another—it was perfect.” He wrestled with his decision to transfer right up until the deadline to do so, and finally signed on the dotted line to become a Zag.
As a final “hurrah” before he left Loyola, Rosick tested out more creative waters. With nothing to lose, he auditioned for as much as he could in the theater department, and sure enough, he landed every part.
Before taking his acting and musical talents to Hollywood, Gonzaga alum Jeff Rosick (’08) graced stages in Spokane.
“It was a nice form of validation that I should follow my heart,” he said, which was exactly what Rosick did when he walked out of that debits and credits class on his first day at Gonzaga. “I told my loving mother, ‘I don’t care if I’m penniless for the rest of my life…I would rather do something I love and am passionate about.’” With a smile, his mom embraced his bold endeavor.
Once he started in the GU theater department, the floodgates of passion opened for Rosick. He was particularly inspired by Dr. Brian Russo, a professor who brought a conservatory approach to theater and a perspective Rosick hadn’t expected with regard to his new chosen path.
“He said to me, ‘Jeff, everything you’re doing, all you’re learning in class, all this work is toward doing it in the real world and getting paid for it,’” he recalled. “That just unlocked everything. Until that moment, I’d always just thought I’d still have to get a real job when I graduated, but his instruction and guidance led me to truly believe in myself. This is a real job. Until that moment, I guess you could say I didn’t really believe in myself as an artist, as cheesy as that sounds.”
In addition to his passion for acting, Rosick also found a channel for his musical talents at GU as well. Another in-class daydreaming session inspired a melody that he just had to transfer from his mind to a recording. His score was discovered by GU dance professor Suzanne Ostersmith, who choreographed a dance to Rosick’s music. That led to Rosick composing scores for several other Gonzaga dance and theater performances. He began to amass quite the portfolio reel, which, through another GU connection, helped him land the opportunity to create music for a promo spot for the local NBC affiliate in Spokane, KHQ-TV.
“Doing that caught the attention of Cue11, a music production company in Spokane,” explained Rosick, who went to work for Cue11 during his senior year at GU.
Earlier that year, Professor Russo encouraged Rosick and three other theater students to produce the Kenneth Lonergan play “This Is Our Youth” in downtown Spokane over the summer. It was so successful, the play was picked up for an additional run the following winter. Rosick posted the flyer for his play at Cue11.
Shawn West, who also worked at the music production company at the time, went to see the final showing of Rosick’s play.
“He was in the back row and the last one to leave,” Rosick remembered, “so I went over to thank him for coming, and he told me to meet him in his office the next day. ‘We have a lot to talk about,’ he said.”
As Rosick came to find out, West was a veteran of the entertainment industry, who had worked with some real heavy-hitters in Hollywood.
“I’m firing you,” Rosick remembers West telling him before encouraging him to take his talents to Los Angeles. West offered his knowledge and industry connections to help Rosick get started. Eight years later, West is Rosick’s theatrical agent, helping him navigate the ins and outs of a Hollywood career, which is still influenced by his Gonzaga experience.
“There are quite a few of us GU grads who brought our sense of community down to L.A. from Spokane,” said Rosick. “Colin Murphy (’07), Luke Barats (’06) and Joe Bereta (’05), my wife, Anne (Carey) (’07)—every time we’re together we end up talking about Gonzaga at some point.”
At the heart of it all, were Rosick’s scholarships, which made it possible for him to graduate without the debt that could have kept him from pursuing his dreams and finding successes as an actor.
“Gratitude is something that came from going to school at Gonzaga,” said Rosick. “I’m very appreciative of all the help, financially, emotionally, you name it. Giving back—you just never know whose life you’re going to make easier, or maybe even just manageable—it all matters. Just by helping the greater community learn to be better versions of themselves, that’s a worthy cause. The ultimate goal of education is to keep improving.”
You can catch Rosick in a co-starring role on the show “Aquarius,” starring David Duchovny, airing in the spring of 2016 on NBC. Your support for the Zag Scholarship Fund helps Gonzaga students pursue their dreams, just like Rosick did. If you wish to make a gift today, visit gonzaga.edu/giveonline.