MOSULA TAPUSOA The Man of Many Hats Written by Caroline Kawabe Designed by Shelby Mitchell Graphics by Madison Mercado Fall of 2021, the start of his senior year: at 7:15 a.m. every morning, you can find him dripping in sweat, pushing weights up and down the football field; by 10:00 a.m., you can find him singing harmonies to a beautiful Latin choral arrangement on the risers of the choir room; at 5:00 p.m., you can find him back on the football field knocking down and tackling opposing players. He goes by Mo, and he’s a man of many hats. Mosula Tapusoa played right guard for the number one-ranked high school football team in America and currently plays division-one football at Morgan State University. At about six feet tall and shy of 300 pounds, he has the frame and build of a football player. Clearly very strong,
This profile was chosen to spotlight and tell the story of an extraordinary artist, athlete, and person. Hopefully, his story could inspire others to use their passions together to create something beautiful just as he did.
he would likely tower over you if you were to stand in front of him. One might see him as intimidating at first. But what you might not guess about Tapusoa at first glance is that he has the voice of an angel. Born and raised in a small town in Hawaii, Tapusoa, 18, stands as the second youngest of eight kids. The Tapusoa family moved to California just before Mosula’s freshman year of high school. Although they had originally planned to move back, Mosula’s success at Mater Dei High School gave the family hope and reason to stay. Tapusoa played right guard for the Monarchs, but he had another role on the team as well: a leader. As a senior, Tapusoa was one of the veteran players on the team. He had taken it upon himself to look out for his younger teammates and be a voice of encouragement for his team. If you were to attend almost any Mater Dei High School football game last year, you would probably see the sun begin to set over the Santa Ana
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Bowl as the Monarchs on the field and in the stands are decked out in their best scarlet and gray. With your ears, you would hear Tapusoa’s vocals throughout the game. His teammates considered him to be the “vocal guy,” or the one who was always cheering and trying to keep the energy alive. Tapusoa’s vocal and lively presence attracted members of the choral program to him. It was a day like any other, Tapusoa was spending his sophomore year lunchtime at the piano hidden in the old gym-turned-theater at school, playing around with some of his buddies. Just down the hall sat Scott Melvin, the Director of Performing Arts, in his office having a meeting with Stefan Miller, the head vocal instructor within the choral department. Miller heard Tapusoa’s angelic, soulful voice echoing through the hallway and immediately went to find the source. As Miller marched into the pavilion, he found Tapusoa and a teammate at the piano. Miller asked if the voice he heard was Tapusoa, and Tapusoa nodded. The vocal instructor asked Tapusoa to sing again, and he hesitantly continued to sing.