Students from around the country make the rounds of the G.A.

ATLANTA, Nov. 22 — Rafi Cohen showed up in Atlanta for the 1999 General Assembly with people to meet, places to see and a briefcase full of resumes to pass around.

Like any attendee, Cohen, 22, had circled the sessions he wanted to attend and had a group of friends from around the country with whom he was looking forward to catching up.

But the Brandeis University senior’s first priority was to land himself a job.

I’m trying to relocate,” he said. “I have a stack of resumes and I’m here to network.”

Cohen is one of hundreds of students who attended this year’s GA, including 250 from various campus Hillel chapters. They attend all the same sessions as their professional counterparts, but don’t always come home with the same experiences.

Some are attending their first major Jewish event. Others recognize every young face they see from summers in Israel or other programs. Many look forward to the sessions but watch quietly instead of participate. For others, the GA is simply a place to see and be seen — especially by the right people.

Sticking together

For the most part, the students stick together, hanging out in groups inside sessions and on clusters of chairs and couches on the exhibition floor. They wander the booths in groups, picking up freebies like pins and sunglass cords and snapping each other’s photos with disposable cameras.

“It’s like a clique,” said Jason Smith, a sophomore at the University of South Florida in Tampa. “It’s like a whole group of people you already have something in common with.”

For the students who have been involved in Jewish activities their whole lives, the GA is just another occasion to learn about trends and opportunities and meet other regulars from around the country.

Bree Kessler, 19, went to a Jewish day school and was involved in organizations like BBYO and NFTY. Now a second-year student at the University of Michigan, she’s no stranger to gatherings like the GA.

“I’m just involved in a lot of organizations,” she said. “You run into the same people every place you go.”

Unlike many of the students, Kessler came to the GA not as a member of Hillel but representing Lights In Action, a group that tries to reach uninvolved Jews at colleges across the country. As a presenter, she finds she relates to the professionals at the GA at a more even level than perhaps some of her peers.

Crash course

Some other students had less idea what to expect. Jennifer Sadorus and Jamie Cohen, both students at the University of South Florida, said they appreciate the chance to attend the regular sessions but often felt left behind in the discussions. They wish, in addition to the sessions presented for students on things like networking, they offered an early class on key issues in Israel and the Jewish community, so students can better participate on a level with those for whom Jewish matters are their sole business.

“Sort of like a crash course,” said Sadorus, a freshman. “So that when we’re in a discussion, we can understand what matters.”

Some of the students enjoy the GA but feel more like observers than true participants, allowed to attend everything but not really part of anything. “It’s been segregated,” said Noah Raucher, a 20-year-old sophomore at Hofstra University on Long Island. “There’s definitely the kid’s convention and the adult’s convention.”

For some, the separation was physical. Lana Tabak of Baruch College in New York arrived at the main convention hotel on opening day only to find that she wasn’t signed up for a room. She wandered the floor until a Hillel rep spied the yellow student tag on her badge and directed her to another hotel a few blocks away. Other students ended up at a hotel miles away in suburban Dunwoody and felt somewhat removed from the action.

But other students didn’t feel left out at all. “Actually, people often turn to me because I am a student,” said Eric Adelman, a senior at George Washington University. “They pick us out because they want to know what we have to say.”

And some students don’t mind just watching the speeches. Sarah Tannenbaum and Danny Breiner, who both attend Georgia Tech, stopped by the GA in casual clothes on opening day to catch the remarks by bigwigs like Al Gore and Bill Bradley. “For students, it’s only $25, and it’s worth it just for the bag,” Breiner said, holding the black satchel handed out to attendees.

For many seniors, attending sessions and seeing old friends were secondary to their prime mission: landing a job for after graduation. USF senior Jamie Cohen flew up for the GA specifically to learn about graduate schools or Israel programs. Even schoolmate Smith, who said he had no idea that the GA would be a place to hunt for jobs and didn’t bring a resume, found himself with 17 business cards of prospects less than 24 hours after arriving.

Many bring a pile of resumes to hand out and jot down e-mail addresses of new contacts on notepads, trading info with other students outside sessions. Susan Sherr, a recruiting consultant for the United Jewish Communities, said she interviewed 80 students in the first two days.

“I can’t down the hallway in a straight line here,” she said. “I get stopped every two feet.”

Even those not actively looking for jobs found some measure of satisfaction. Smith, 20, didn’t know what to expect from the GA when he boarded a plane in Tampa Wednesday afternoon without so much as a list of speakers. But he said he’s met students from all over the country and feels more connected to the community than he did back at school.

So was it worth it? “I missed a test, and I missed the review for it, too,” he smiled. “But I can make it up.”

— Atlanta Jewish Times