61. Jennifer Helgesen

Larchmont, New York · Industrial and

Labor Relations

Every few weeks, Cornell '95 Faces features a profile of one of our class officers. This week, meet the Fund Representative.

Name at Cornell
Jennifer Wendling

Jennifer_Helgesen@hotmail.com

Tell us about what you're doing with your life.
My husband Chris and I spend a lot of time chasing our two very active boys who are 6 and 4. I am enjoying raising them in the town that I grew up in outside of NYC.

After many years in the field of HR technology, I redirected my career to allow for more flexibility. I founded a recruiting firm focusing on HR/HRIS positions. I have crossed paths with quite a few ILR grads who are in the field of HR. My office is a mile from my home, which is really convenient.

What are your duties as class officer and what have you enjoyed about the job?
I am the Fund Representative for our class. Initiatives have included campaigns to reconnect with former dues payers and increase participation as well as personalized thank you notes to fund contributors.

I really enjoy being part of such a dedicated group of Cornell alums. As we approach our 20th reunion, the excitement of the officers is quickly building as we collaborate on ways to maximize involvement and provide a high quality experience to attendees.

What was your favorite class at Cornell, or the one you found the most useful?
What I found most useful was the balance of the intimate and focused ILR program coupled with the opportunity to take many classes across the University—including graduate level. Being with grad students who had been in the "real world" already was interesting. I stayed an extra year on campus and got my Master's from the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs. There were quite a few '95 grads who stayed another year for a masters degree or dual major, including several close friends.

What random or surprising encounters with Cornell or Cornellians have you experienced since you left?
Not sure if it is surprising, but I can't believe how many Cornell grads are in my town! 4 out of the 6 kids in my son's toddler playgroup are children of Cornell alums—including Michael Koby, a fellow ILR '95. Several of my close friends are Cornell grads who I did not know on campus. We instantly bonded over shared memories regardless of our graduation year. Also, I sold my first apartment to a Cornell graduate. We made the connection at the closing table. But most importantly, I met my husband through a Cornell friend!

What are you most looking forward to at Reunion 2015?
This will be the first reunion that I am able to attend. Can't wait to spend quality time on campus with close friends walking down memory lane as well as catching up on "today." Also looking forward to reconnecting with others who I have not seen in many years. Social media is great but nothing tops the in person connection. I know that the campus and Collegetown have both changed quite a bit so I'm eager to see what's new and show my husband around.

62. Aneesh and Anna Dalvi

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada · Engineering

Names at Cornell
Aneesh Dalvi and Anna Rosen

anna@knitandknag.com and aneeshd@rogers.com

Twitter: @knitandknag
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/annadalvi

Tell us about what you're doing with your life.
Aneesh is the V.P. of Applied Research at iDirect. He's been working in the satellite communications industry since we moved up to Ottawa in 1998.

Anna designs knitting patterns and has published two books (the third one is due out 2014), teaches classes on knitwear design, and publishes patterns (www.knitandknag.com). And as you think it's quite a shift from engineering to knitting—do consider that everything is math.

We have three children (grades 8, 5, and 3) who keep us busy. Between hockey, jiujitsu, piano, and school there's hardly a quiet moment.

What was your favorite class at Cornell, or the one you found the most useful?
Aneesh:
It's hard to pick one favourite... the thing I liked best about Cornell was being able to take different classes from different departments even if they weren't directly related to my degree. Freshman Writing Seminars and Wines were fun. Playing with superconductors in intro. chemistry was really cool, although not particularly useful. Signals and Systems in EE was probably the most useful for my career.

What advice would you give to a student starting at Cornell this year?
Anna: 
Go out and get involved in the special projects Cornell offers outside the required courses. I learned the basic tools in the regular courses, but I had a chance to apply them and expand on them in settings like the Hybrid Electric Vehicle team, or in the Robotics Lab.

What extracurricular activity or hobby from your time at Cornell was the most meaningful?
Aneesh:
We both worked on the Hybrid Electric Vehicle project, at a time when no one knew what an HEV was. It was a great experience to design and build a car from scratch, and we had a lot of fun while doing it. I suppose it was technically a class, but it really ended up becoming part of your social life as well. Many of us from those teams still keep in touch.

How has your time at Cornell influenced you since you graduated?
Anna:
At the Cornell Engineering School, we were encouraged to question WHY things worked, not just memorize a formula. It leads to a deeper understanding of things, and encourages further experimentation. My first book (Shaping Shawls) is an exploration of shapes in knitwear, and uses applied math to explain why knit lace shawls are constructed the way they are. It aims to give the reader the tools required to design their own and play with construction, not just blindly follow the steps—similar to what we learned at Cornell.

If you could change anything about your Cornell experience, what would it be?
Aneesh:
I often wish I had been able to take more advantage of the all things that were going on at Cornell. See more visiting speakers, go to more concerts, try more activities, play more sports, things like that. But I think that no matter how many things you did, there were probably a hundred other things that looked interesting that you would have wanted to do as well.

What extracurricular activity or hobby from your time at Cornell was the most meaningful?
Anna:
The HEV team - we built a hybrid electric vehicle and took it to CA to compete in the Clean Air Road rally. While it was nominally a class (3 credits), it really consumed most of our waking hours. We made some wonderful friends, and learned to apply the engineering skills learned in class. It taught us to be curious and never leave well enough alone.

63. Nayan Hajratwala

Saline, Michigan · Engineering

nayan@chikli.com
Twitter: @nhajratw
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nayan.hajratwala

Tell us about what you're doing with your life.
I am an independent Lean/Agile coach. Essentially, I help organizations that build software to build it faster, with higher quality, and with greater value. I spend a lot of time teaching technical software practices at a developer level as well as coaching Project Managers and C-Level folks.

As a side note, in 1999, I discovered the 38th Mersenne prime, which is a prime number with over 2 million digits. 2^6,972,593-1. As a result of this, I won a $50K anonymously donated prize from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

What was your favorite class at Cornell, or the one you found the most useful?
In the Computer Science program, I remember a lot of people complaining that it was too theoretical with not enough practical applications. As I've progressed in my career, I've come to value the theory that I learned at Cornell. It applies to all the emerging technologies and doesn't get obsolete.

What is your favorite memory of your time at Cornell?
During summer session, grabbing a Snapple Iced Tea and a chocolate croissant from Oliver's and walking over the suspension bridge & waterfall to class.

What does being a Cornell alumnus mean to you?
In the business world, it's amazing how much credibility you start with when someone discovers you're from Cornell. Of course, you have to live up to that standard, which in turn helps those coming behind you.

64. Stephen Friedfeld

Boston, Massachusetts · Arts and

Sciences

stephen@acceptu.com

Tell us about what you're doing with your life.
I received a Ph.D. in engineering from Rice University and then returned to Cornell from 2000 to 2004 as an assistant dean of admissions and academic advising. I became the associate dean of graduate affairs in the engineering school at Princeton University from 2004 to 2010.

I co-founded AcceptU (www.AcceptU.com) in 2010. AcceptU is a college, grad school, and MBA admissions counseling group. We have 30 former admissions officers who work virtually (Skype, phone, email) with prospective applicants. I attended Teachers College at Columbia University, where I received an MA in higher education in 2013.

In personal news, I got engaged late last year! We have a bulldog named Zoe (who is very sweet) and a miniature dachshund named Killer (who is not).

What was your favorite class at Cornell, or the one you found the most useful?
I loved my Freshman Writing Seminar called Medieval Aspects of Culture: From the Madonna to Madonna. I learned so much about writing, critical thinking and analysis. I am always writing or editing or teaching writing. (I also liked Quantum Physical Chemistry—admittedly less useful than writing, but still an excellent class.)

What advice would you give to a student starting at Cornell this year?
I would advise a new CU student to stay in Ithaca for at least one summer. I never lived in Ithaca during the summers as a student but spent four great summers there when I was working in Arts & Sciences. I would also advise students *not* to stay during winter break.

If you could change anything about your Cornell experience, what would it be?
I regret that I did not study abroad. It was considered fairly difficult for a chemistry (or any science major) to study abroad because of the sequential courses, but I still wish I had done so. I also took three P.E. classes (instead of the required two), but wish I had taken more—they were fun and easy.

65. Jessica Shevitz Rauch

Port Washington, New York · Human

Ecology

jsrauch@gmail.com
Twitter: @jessburbia
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jshevrauch

Tell us about what you're doing with your life.
I'm trying to do it all!

For the past 6 years I've been the Finance Director for a growing computer security firm, Matasano Security, while raising our two kids, currently 5 and 2, and I write a monthly email newsletter (sign up here—http://eepurl.com/KFPSb) that provides advice, book/movie/music recommendations, and links to pop culture articles laced with insight and humor on how to make it count as we juggle all the different facets of our busy lives.

What was your favorite class at Cornell, or the one you found the most useful?
HDFS 362, Human Relationships Across the Life Span, or LOVE with Professor Cindy Hazan. It seems like since graduation, a week hasn't gone by without me relaying some fact I learned (or at this point have mis-remembered that I learned) from that class: close friendships, family relationships, intimate relationships, and even semi-close friendships—it was all in there!

Through my career as a job recruiter, career coach, and HR generalist always relating to people and how they may or may not feel, it all comes back to LOVE. Awwwww. But I mean the Hum Ec course "LOVE". 

Not love love (necessarily).

What is your favorite memory of your time at Cornell?
The semester I spent in DC was truly special. Being on my own in a city for the first time with the support of the CIW program, its staff, and my fellow CIW classmates and friends really made me courageous and have a sense of adventure when I left the cocoon of college a semester later.

What random or surprising encounters with Cornell or Cornellians have you experienced since you left?
In Brooklyn, we did two amazing family photos shoots with Virginia L.S. Freire '98 of Virginia L. S. Freire Photography. Only when Virginia & I were saying good-bye when I moved to Long Island did we realize the Cornell connection! 

Last fall, at a networking event in my new town on LI, I ran into Amanda Perez Leder '98. A fun personal & professional friendship has ensued. 

My sister (not a Cornellian) moved to London & within a few months she randomly met Lee Levansky Matthews '03 while out & about. She's now a great friend to both of us.

66. Catherine Marie Charlton

Chester County, Pennsylvania · Engineering

Twitter: @cmcriverdawn
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cmcriverdawn

Tell us about what you're doing with your life.
I am a pianist, composer, and improviser with multiple relaxation albums (www.CatherineMarieCharlton.com). I run my record label part-time from home and also have two little kiddos ages 4 and 2.

What is your favorite memory of your time at Cornell?
Watching the solar eclipse from the Chimes Tower; entering the Chimes Master competition and having access to the tower during practice time; paging books in the basement of the music building, running up and down the stairs to retrieve them back to the circulation desk; semester abroad in Hamburg, Germany; Systems Dynamics class; group problem set solving sessions; Star Trek at Risley (everyone knew what season the episode was from based on Captain's stardate log); building a laser; breaking the curve along with my best friend in Physics class.

What extracurricular activity or hobby from your time at Cornell was the most meaningful?
Playing piano in random places—top of High Rise 2, Robert Purcell Student Union (my fav) as people streamed by on their way to breakfast, various pianos in Willard Straight Hall. I think having to practice in public places helped my performing confidence! I also loved playing the Noontime Concert Series and Coffeehouses at Willard Straight—was so incredibly grateful for that forum to work on my compositions and gain confidence in performing.

If you could change anything about your Cornell experience, what would it be?
I wish I reached out more to people around me and realized how many friends I truly had. I was pretty insular in my emotions and kept to myself a lot, especially at group gatherings—I always thought of myself as an introvert and was too afraid to jump into conversations!

67. Jared Genser

Bethesda, Maryland · Human Ecology

info@perseus-strategies.com
Twitter: @jaredgenser
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jared.genser

Tell us about what you're doing with your life.
I am an international human-rights lawyer and my work takes me all over the world—something I enjoy less and less over time. After being a partner at a global law firm, I left to start my own law firm, Perseus Strategies, and founded and serve on the board of a non-profit group, Freedom Now (www.freedom-now.org), which works to free prisoners of conscience around the world. I've been tremendously honored and challenging by representing such clients as Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Aung San Suu Kyi and Liu Xiaobo. I also teach a seminar at Georgetown Law School about the UN Security Council. Personally, my wife Lisa and I have two beautiful children Zachary (5) and Alexandra (2). To blow off steam, I play ice hockey in an adult league. I've never been all that good, but keep thrashing away!

What is your favorite memory of your time at Cornell?
There are so many wonderful memories from my time at Cornell. They include, among others, Thursday night "group therapy" at Dunbars with my fraternity brothers; a Spring break road trip to New Orleans and Panama City, Florida; some really inspiring faculty and classes; and having the luxury of time to build deep friendships.

How has your time at Cornell influenced you since you graduated?
I have wonderful memories of my time at Cornell. It was just a fabulous time of my life. In many ways, the kinds of things I studied and the extracurricular community service activities that I was engaged in at Cornell in HumEc put me on the path to where I've ended up today. I never could have imagined exactly where I've ended up or how I would have gotten here, but the foundation that was laid at Cornell has had a profound impact on my life.

What extracurricular activity or hobby from your time at Cornell was the most meaningful?
Hockey. I never would have imagined how much the PE requirement from college would have a positive effect on my well-being. I took ice skating to meet the PE requirement, then starting taking hockey lessons, and ended up playing intramural hockey at Cornell. I later played in grad school and law school and for a few years after that. And now that my five-year-old son is on the ice, I've returned to playing. It is just a fabulous sport and I love to play. Ironically, I married a Canadian who can barely ice skate!