Spring 2008 - University Honors College - University at Buffalo

All in the
(Honors)
FAMILY
ERIC BIELEFELD
Honors Scholar, Class of 1999
There have been a number of times in my
life when I’ve stopped to think about all of
the different things that had to happen to
get me there, times when I stopped to take
stock of my life.
In the last few years, I’ve graduated college,
married my wife, bought a home, adopted a
dog, completed my Ph.D., seen hundreds of
patients in the clinic, published a few
research papers, and interviewed for faculty
positions. With the birth of my first child,
I’ve been spending more time than ever
thinking about how I got here. Of course I
think of my parents and my brother. I
think of my lifelong friends, and people I
admired and wanted to emulate. I think
about my wife and her family, and all of the
people who influenced her. I am fascinated
by the intersections of people and events
that serve to influence and shape a person’s
life. Some of those events are trivial; some
of those people are inconsequential. Some
of those events define you; some of those
people become family. For me, one of the
defining events was the decision to enter
UB through the Honors Program in the fall
of 1995. I would like to think my career
would have been fine with or without the
Honors Program and that my undergraduate
education was not marked by any experience
that was particularly unique. That
was not the case. The Honors Program
allowed me to meet five other guys who’ve
become like a second family to me. It was
that unique Honors Program experience
that changed my life in ways that I’ll never
be able to fully appreciate.
UB is a big school. North Campus is
sprawling, and you can walk around for
hours without seeing a familiar face.
Chemistry 101 took place in the largest
classroom I’d ever been in, with hundreds
more unfamiliar faces. I’m not an outgoing
person, and that sea of unfamiliar faces
14 UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO
could have swallowed me up. Without the
Honors Program, I would likely have commuted
to campus and gone several days or
weeks without speaking to people or trying
to make friends. The Honors Program
made UB a small school for me, something
I quickly came to value. Seeing the same
faces in the Governors dorms made it a lot
easier for an introvert like me to make
friends.
In Roosevelt Hall, I roomed with Rob
Bermel (now an M.D. in Neurology at the
Cleveland Clinic). Across the hall, we met
Guy Cappuccino (now an M.D. in plastic
surgery in New Jersey). Guy introduced me
to Chris Reynolds (now an M.D. in family
medicine in Rochester), Martins Innus
(now a computer engineer in UB’s Center
for Computational Research) and Marc
Fleming (now a history teacher in Greece
Athena High School in Rochester). As different
as we were in a lot of ways, we were
six guys with similar backgrounds, priorities,
and dreams. My relationships with
them became that which defined my college
experience. We lived together and spent
every day at school with one another. We
took classes together, studied together and
in between semesters, we traveled together.
Together for our four years at UB - we lived
like a family.
Since our graduation in 1999, we have
remained close. Rob, Chris, and Guy went
to UB Medical School together. Martins
and I started graduate school in the
Engineering and Communicative Disorders
and Sciences departments, respectively.
We’ve stood up in each other’s weddings,
been honored to be asked to be Godparents
for each other’s children; every wedding and
birth has provided another opportunity for
our lives to intersect. We’ve been together,
and will continue to be together, for all of
the important events in our lives.
Our careers have begun to spread us
away from the Western New York area.
Marc and Lisa have a home in Rochester, as
do Chris and Jodi. Martins and Cara have
settled in Lockport. Rob and Val have been
moved to the Cleveland area, and Guy and
Rachel are temporarily in New Jersey. Dava
and I live in Buffalo, but are preparing for a
move at some point in the future.
Wherever we end up, a top priority will
always be to keep in touch with our UB
family. Like many families, we have
reunions as often as possible. It’s always
tough to pin everyone down, but at least
once or twice a year, all of us can get into
the same room, at the same time. Pictured
above is our group from Thanksgiving
2007. There are now sixteen, with more on
the way. The Honors College brought all of
us together, and in doing so, helped shape
our lives and allowed us to become a big
family.
Looking back on how I got to this point
in my life, I can say with the utmost certainty
that studying at UB was one of the
best decisions I’ll ever make, and it was the
opportunity to study and live in the Honors
dorms that made the experience so special.
It enabled me to make friends that I love
like family and who have shaped my life.
For that I’ll be forever thankful to them –
and to the Honors College.
Front row, left to right: Martins, Cara, and Ainsley
Innus; Rob, Val, and Christian Bermel. Second row:
Guy, Rachel, and Dante Cappuccino. Back row: Marc
and Lisa Fleming; Eric, Dava, and Doyle Bielefeld;
Chris and Jodi Reynolds.