Avery Schwartz’s college journey didn’t begin at CSI, but it quickly became clear that Staten Island was where he was meant to be.

A Finance and Management major in the Chazanoff School of Business, with minors in Sports Management and Data Analytics, Schwartz began his academic career at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. After one year away, he realized he wanted to be closer to home and transferred to CSI, where he found both community and direction.

“After my freshman year, I realized it wasn’t fully what I was looking for,” Avery said. “I missed home more than I wanted to admit, so I came back to Staten Island and started at CSI as a late transfer.”

Schwartz, whose professional goal is to find a career working for a professional sports team or company, noted that he opted for his academic path because of a longstanding passion for the field.

Not defined by his academics alone, he is also an involved member of the College community. For the last two years, he has served as president of the Jewish Student Union/Hillel, after previously serving as the organization’s secretary. In addition, he was the secretary of the Finance and Economics Club, and he is a three-time flag football intramural champion.

Looking back at his experience at CSI, Schwartz said, “Some of my favorite parts of CSI in no particular order are spending time as president of the Jewish Student Union; seeing my friends across campus; getting food at the Campus Center (the combo deals are pretty good deals); and playing intramural sports, which I enjoyed as a whole to help me be a part of the community.

His involvement with the Jewish Student Union/Hillel, as well as the Jewish Community Center (JCC), is tied to overcoming the difficulty he sometimes feels being Jewish on and off campus. 

“I understand most people are coming not from a place of malice,” he explained, “but just from not knowing, and part of the responsibility as president of the Jewish Student Union is to help people understand my heritage and how conflating American Jewish students to the Middle East can be dangerous, regardless of viewpoints in either direction.” 

Saying that he always wanted to stay connected to his Judaism while at CSI, Schwartz noted that “Hillel and the JCC was the perfect way to do that. I was a camper at the JCC at their summer camp, as well as a counselor there for a combined 15 summers. As for Hillel, having the opportunity to be a part of that and Staten Island Hillel’s recent collaboration with the JCC to help with events worked out well for me to be as involved as possible. I was even honored by the JCC/Hillel recently with the ‘Fran and Joe Harris Student Leadership Award.’”

Now that graduation is on the horizon, Schwartz said, “My CSI experience has affected my professional path by giving me the resources to meet and make so many connections, not only across what I would like to do professionally, but also friendships that I hope to keep.”

Although he currently has a part-time job, Schwartz plans to continue exploring opportunities that best fit his short- and long-term goals.

“The hope is that I have an official job sooner rather than later,” he said, “so I’m looking forward to whatever happens next.”

By Terry Mares