“I’ve been working at the Office of Alumni Relations for about 2 years now and I absolutely love it.  The award means a lot to me, especially because I’m working in a field in which I hope to enter professionally,” said Chatarjee.

As a member of the Alumni Office’s Regional Events and Operations team, Chatarjee’s responsibilities include conducting research for venues, preparing promotional materials, managing several small events on Meliora Weekend, and recruiting student volunteers for the weekend’s events.  In fact, she was promoted to her current position after performing her duties  as a general office assistant remarkably well.

In a letter nominating Chatarjee for the award, Colline says, “She brings her intelligence and zest for life to the workplace each and every day.  Whether on an independent project or a member of a team, she provides nothing but excellent work and a positive attitude.”

“I can honestly say that my experience in this position is the largest contributing factor to not only my professional, but also my personal growth during my time at UR,” said Chatarjee.  “It has allowed me to build my organizational and leadership skills, as well as meet great people who were extremely supportive and helped me prepare for a future in event planning.”

Chatarjee, who is an economics & business strategies major, has been involved with the Office of Alumni Relations as a Student Alumni Ambassador since spring 2011.  She also is a residential adviser and serves as an officer for several student organizations.

“She is the quintessential ambassador. She loves her university and demonstrates that bond each and every day through her work assignments,” Colline wrote in her nominating letter.

After graduation, Chatarjee plans to move to New York or Washington, D.C. to seek out full-time employment in the event planning and public relations field.

“Prior to working at the Alumni Office, I did not know what I wanted to do in my future, but now I have no doubt that I am going in the right direction and pursuing a career that fits both my skills and my personality and will make me very happy,” Chatarjee said.

In celebration of Student Employee Week, the Student Employment Office recognized Chatarjee, along with all of this year’s nominees, at a private reception. As Employee of the Year, Chatarjee will have the opportunity to compete at regional and state levels through the National Student Employee Association’s awards program.

This year, the following 22 students were nominated for the Student Employee of the Year award: David Aguila ’13, Naomi Ahsan ’12, Shianne Chatarjee ’12, Christina Cordell ’12, Courtney Diamond ’12, Douglas Done ’13, Amanda Gaboriault ’14, Ian Gauger ’12, Rebekah Goldstein ’14, Devin Granahan ’12, Kaitlyn Karpenko ’12, Janixa Mejias ’13, Byron Miller ’12, Andrew Moran ’12, Craig Pais ’12, Danyel Quackenbush ’14, Bo Reynolds ’12, Nick Runeare ’12, Shamara Saffore ’15, Erin Slocum ’12, Annamarie Spielmann ’12, Alana Valvo ’13.

Article written by Maya Dukmasova, a Take 5 Scholar at the University of Rochester and an intern at University Communications. She majored in philosophy and religion and focused her Take 5 year on researching the way American media covers current events in the Muslim world. An aspiring journalist, Dukmasova has freelanced for Rochester Magazine, the Phoenix New Times, and the Daily News Egypt in Cairo. She also maintains two blogs, one devoted to culture and society in Russia (www.out-of-russia.com) and the other to photography (www.myorientalism.com).

Photos courtesy of J. Adam Fenster, University Communications.

Why did you choose to attend the University of Rochester?

I chose to attend the University of Rochester purely for two reasons, financial and its reputation as a science/research school. During my college application process, I was down to Carnegie Mellon Business or coming to Rochester for biology. I chose University of Rochester because Rochester gave me more money, and at first, I wanted to be a doctor.

When and how did you choose your major?

I chose to be a History major the moment I entered college because it was always my favorite subject. I chose to go with an economic degree my sophomore year because I abandoned my plans of being a doctor and wanted a major that could provide some financial security upon graduation.

What do you do now and why did you choose this career?

I graduated in 2008, and frankly, it was a terrible time to graduate due to the economy. I just went on online job sites and landed a job working with the compliance and risk department of an international bank. I have continued this career path. Working with anti-money laundering and the corporate legal field is quite different from the typical banking desk job – I am basically a financial transaction investigator.

Where would you like to be in five years?

Finishing up my JD degree so I can further my career in this field or explore other options in the legal field.

What advice do you have for current students?

Please make an effort to network and obtain internships and experiences in what you want to do. Getting a job after college is getting harder and harder, and those with internship experiences will have a huge advantage in getting a job after college. Companies are no longer hiring like they did in 2006 and 2007, it takes hard work and experience to land something. The career office can only go so far in helping you, but the most important thing is to be proactive and push for opportunities yourself.

Why did you choose to attend the University of Rochester?

My sister went to UR, I did not get into Cornell’s Industrial Labor Relations Program and I did not want to go to SUNY Binghamton as 40 members of my high school class were going to Binghamton.  Cornell offered me a guaranteed transfer to Cornell in my sophomore year if I took certain courses elsewhere and got certain grades so I figured I would try UR and transfer in my second year.  It turns out I loved UR so much that I turned Cornell down in my sophomore year and then again when it came time for law school.   I was fortunate to make immediate, and now life-long, friends my freshman year, mostly from my Gates 5 co-ed hall and from study groups.   I also had great professors who encouraged me to learn even more than I thought I could learn.

What activities were you involved in as a student and what did you gain from them?

I was one of the leaders of WCPB  (Wilson Commons Programming Board), a D’Lion, a member of the Meridian Society and a Kaidean.  I may have done other things such as hang exhibits in the Hartnett Art Gallery but that is what I remember right now.  My role in WCPB helped me learn about event planning, fund raising and meeting the needs of the various constituents of the University.  Those skills continue to help me today as I volunteer as the President of a not-for-profit (www.icareicure.org) to raise money and awareness about the need for better and less toxic treatments for children with cancer.

What did you do immediately after graduation? How did you decide to take that path?

I went on to the Harvard Law School directly upon graduating from UR.  I am forever grateful for my UR professors for writing my recommendations and helping me both define and pursue my goals.  I am also forever grateful for the study and lifelong learning skills I learned at the UR.  I can’t say I loved the hard work at all times but the excellence required by my professors certainly prepared me for my future and provided the solid foundation I needed for law school and life.

What do you do now and why did you choose this career?

I am blessed to have known I wanted to become attorney long before I got to UR.  However, UR helped me confirm that belief and helped me learn about other areas of interest that still help me in my career and my personal life.

How do you balance your work and professional life?

Finding balance in school is good preparation for balance in life so I wish you good luck in this area.  In school however, it only involves one person in most cases – you making choices about your priorities.   In life it involves working in conjunction with your family (in my case 5 of us.)  That is a bit more difficult given that each person has needs and priorities.  I wish I could say I succeed in this area but I really can’t say that yet as my professional life can be all consuming at times and I do spend a great deal of volunteer time so I will say I keep trying.  I use a master calendar that includes work deadlines and my children’s and husband’s activities and I try to give advance notice to others of my schedule.  I also try to include my family in my volunteer activities so we can align our priorities and spend quality family time working toward a common goal.

How are you still connected with the University?

I consider my biggest connection to UR to be my relationship with the friends I made at UR.  Over the past 25 years, we have been to many many weddings, had many visits to newborn children, many long weekends together all over the place (Maine, Vermont, Lake Champlain, Boston, Utica, Florida, New York City, Utah, Albany, and Seattle, just to name a few) and a few surprise travel visits when it coincides with work or family trips.  Those are treasured moments and connections to the UR through a common bond.  I am serving on the Reunion committee and meet with administration representatives at times but my real connection is with the alumni. I would say, besides helping me get into law school, one of the biggest gifts the UR has given me are the lifelong connections with my UR friends.

Name:

Why did you choose to attend the University of Rochester?

The obvious answer to this question is because both of my parents are University of Rochester alumni (Class of 1975). However, the more genuine response is because of my visit to UR’s campus while still in high school. I do not know what captivated me so much, but the feel of the campus and the energy of the people really seemed to be a place where I thought I could thrive. I eventually applied as an “early decision”, was accepted, and could not have been happier with my decision.

When and how did you choose your major?

I began my undergraduate program majoring in Mathematics, but quickly came to realize that, while I enjoyed Math, I preferred it in the context of Business. After taking a few courses in Business, I changed my major to Economics. Apparently, this was a wise decision as Economics remains a focal part of my career in Finance and Commercial Banking.

What resources did you use on campus that you recommend current students use?

The on-campus Career Center is an extremely valuable resource to students. I can remember spending countless hours discussing my future career with various Career Counselors, and reviewing my resume in preparation for applications. My resume is still formatted based on the advice of the Career Center (from nearly 10 years ago).

What do you do now and why did you choose this career?

Currently, I am a Commercial Credit Risk Manager with M&T Bank in Buffalo, NY. It is my group’s responsibility to manage, track, stress, and report on M&T’s Commercial loan portfolio. I chose this career because of my background in Economics (undergraduate degree from UR) and Finance (graduate degree from the University at Buffalo). I have also held positions in Financial Modeling and Pricing at United Parcel Service (UPS) in Atlanta, Georgia.

How are you still connected with the University?

I remain very engaged with the University of Rochester. Not only because of frequent visits to the campus for events or Alumni Weekends, but also because I recently joined the Young Alumni Council (a group that aims to encourage “new” alumni involvement in regional events, class reunions, and annual giving). In addition, I volunteer for the interviewing program where I assist the University with screening and interviews of prospective students.

What advice do you have for current students?

Network, network, network. This is one of the least utilized activities a student can do during the undergraduate program. As a student, you have over 1,000 peers in your graduating class; make it a goal to meet as many of them as you can. Having an extensive network covering different regions of the country and with different educational backgrounds will be essential when you find yourself in a position where you are looking for a job.

While handball has never been recognized as a varsity sport on campus, several years ago two graduate students, Samantha England and Dan McNabney, channeled their love of the game and their organizational skills to create a club team. Both had played handball for years and wanted to introduce the Rochester community to the sport as well as find new opportunities to train. England has been ranked the third best female player in the world.

They vigorously recruited students and at one point the club had as many as fifteen members. Manrique, a philosophy and economics major, began playing handball when he arrived here as a freshman. However, new rules for club sports required that the student organizations be sustained solely through the recruitment and organizational efforts of undergraduate students. The new rules, combined with the annual graduation of several team members, made it difficult for the club to grow and today Rochester’s handball culture is down to three people: Manrique, England, and McNabney.

To add to these organizational challenges, there is the sheer difficulty of the game. “It’s such a hard learning curve,” said Manrique. “When you step on the court you have to not only be proficient at hand-eye coordination, you have to be proficient at hand-eye coordination with both of your hands, which is extremely tough.”

The game is played with a small, dense rubber ball and special gloves on a racket ball court.  After their first try players can expect to walk away with very sore hands and full-body fatigue. “Once you get past that, it’s just fun,” Manrique insisted. “It’s probably one of the best workouts you can get.”

But it’s not just about bouncing a ball off the walls of an enclosed court. Handball also is a strategic mental game.  “It’s like a game of chess once you really get into it,” said England.

“No matter how good you get at the game physically there’s always going to be some other challenge.”

Since his freshman year Manrique has risen to high ranks in local and national handball tournaments. “He’s in the top bracket right now for local tournaments and he’s only been playing for three and a half years which is unheard of because handball is so difficult,” said England.  She attributes his success to a keen ability to absorb new information and stay calm on the court.  “He’s really improved exponentially because of his ability to adapt to the game. He learns so quickly and implements the new information … He’s the ideal handball player.”

“I felt very calm and prepared. I have the best coaches that have prepared me for any obstacles that I could possibly come across, both mentally and physically,” Manrique said of his recent Division 1B bracket win. “This was easily the biggest athletic achievement of my entire life.”

“I think that he would be able to enter the pro circuit if he wanted to,” said England. “I look forward to reading his name on the Internet and in the handball publications about how well he’s doing.”  Expressing hope that Manrique will continue to play and teach handball to others after leaving Rochester, she added, “I feel happy that the handball community has gained another player like Brandon.”

Above all, it is the community aspect of the game that both Manrique and England find so attractive. While working in Sacramento, Calif., last summer, Manrique was able to quickly find new friends by joining handball clubs. As the only representative of the University it can be tough to travel to competitions without a team to support him, but while at the national tournament Manrique was cheered on by members of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities team, who knew him from the previous year. The game is also accessible to people of all ages which makes for an inclusive environment despite the competition.

“I am always going to be playing handball, there’s no doubt about that,” Manrique said. “It’s all about finding the right community of players. I still have a lot to learn so I’ll take advantage of my coaches here in Rochester while I can. After that, wherever I end up after graduation, I’ll just take it from there.”

Article written by Maya Dukmasova, a Take 5 Scholar at the University of Rochester and an intern at University Communications. She majored in philosophy and religion and focused her Take 5 year on researching the way American media covers current events in the Muslim world. An aspiring journalist, Dukmasova has freelanced for Rochester Magazine, the Phoenix New Times, and the Daily News Egypt in Cairo. She also maintains two blogs, one devoted to culture and society in Russia (www.out-of-russia.com) and the other to photography (www.myorientalism.com).

Top Photo: Brandon Manrique competes in National Handball Collegiate Championship.

Second Photo: Brandon Manrique poses with Dan Sterrett of Lake Forest College, after the final match of the National Handball Collegiate Championship. Manrique defeated Sterett for the Division 1B title. All photos courtesy of the US Handball Association.