Gifted math and computer science student kept his focus in the face of cancer
Javier Rosa found caring community at Rutgers

By John Chadwick

Javier Rosa seemed to have it all – academic excellence, prestigious internships, and recognition for being one of a relatively small number of minority students studying computer science at a top research university.

Then one day in his junior year, the soft-spoken 25-year-old discovered he had cancer.

“It was an ‘uh-oh’ moment,” he said.

He refused to stop working. Over the next year, Rosa balanced doctor and hospital visits with his pursuit of a double degree in math and computer science.

In the end, he recovered, dropping just two courses, winning the prestigious Novielli Prize from the Department of Computer Science, and getting accepted into a noted Ph.D. program at the University of California, Berkeley.

But the 2009 Rutgers graduate also learned some life lessons not typically found in textbooks. The help and outpouring of concern he received from professors and classmates on the New Brunswick Campus made him realize that he was part of a caring community.

“I started to feel this great sense of belonging,” Rosa said. “And that’s something I have always been looking for.”

Rosa grew up in Perth Amboy. His parents, who were originally from Puerto Rico, didn’t attend college but made sure their children would.

“Growing up, it was always ‘make sure you get an education,’ ” said Rosa, who is tall, has black hair down to his shoulders, and a habit of interspersing his speech with gentle laughter.

A self-described free spirit, he has eclectic interests, everything from the new Star Trek movie to the work of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda to the edgy, alternative rock of Nine Inch Nails.

When he was younger, he thought about becoming a priest.

“It seemed like a good life, devoting your life completely to something special and to other people,” he said.

He entered Rutgers intending to study philosophy but switched to computer science, discovering a higher meaning in the advanced study of mathematical and computing concepts.

“You think it’s all programming, but there are so many theoretical implications,” he said. “It’s like I am learning more about the universe.”

His work caught the attention of professors.

When he took an advanced calculus course, one of the hardest of the required math classes, Professor Amy Cohen-Corwin noticed that Rosa’s interest in the material seemed completely natural and not motivated by career interests.

“He would come up and ask me questions that weren’t even part of the course,” she said.

She was just as impressed by his conduct.

“He neither blustered nor whined,” she said. “He was this quietly serious young man who got the job done.”

It was the fall of 2007 when Rosa went to a doctor to discuss a growth he had noticed on his body. The doctor confirmed what Rosa suspected: testicular cancer.

He reacted with the methodical calm of a research scientist. “I treated it as an academic problem and started reading papers on the subject and trying to figure out treatment options,” he said. “I wanted to maximize the probability to stay alive and minimize the pain.”

Rosa was also determined to miss as few classes as possible. So after having the tumor removed at St. Peter’s University Hospital on a Wednesday, he stayed out of school Thursday and Friday before returning to class on Monday.

Cohen-Corwin said she was anguished about his condition but awed by his ability to bear it with grace.

“I was blown away,” she said.

But Rosa said the strain on his body eventually caught up with him. He felt devoid of energy over the spring and fall of 2008, and in the winter break, he simply stayed put in his dorm room.

“One thing I realized is that I need to keep better track of my stress,” he said.

Another realization, he said, was how much his teachers cared about him as a person as well as a student. His computer teacher recommended the doctor that he would eventually use. His algorithm teacher told him about family members who had experienced similar health problems. Cohen-Corwin advised him on academics and enlisted the help of Academic Advising and Student Services to help manage his course load and health issues.

As he prepares for his journey to the West Coast, Rosa said he will look back on Rutgers as a time of personal awakening as well as a time of excelling in academics.

“Looking back, I realize I had a family in academia,” he said. “What I learned was that the relationships I made here are not superficial – they’re permanent.”