By Elexa Sherry | Contributor

Olympic-hopeful swimmer and Chicago native Charlie Scheinfeld attends the University of Texas where he studies sustainability in the College of Liberal Arts. Scheinfeld is a junior who decided to get involved with Texas Hillel because he says he “enjoys being Jewish”.

“It was a big part of my life back home, so I wanted to make sure I still had that connection throughout college,” Scheinfeld said. 

Scheinfeld said he participates in the “big holidays and ceremonies” and even joined a fellowship last year which he said was “super rewarding”. 

The fellowship, “Life’s Big Questions”, allowed Scheinfeld to discuss the modern-day applications of the Torah with other Hillel members. 

In addition to attending holiday services and participating in the fellowship program, Scheinfeld said one of his favorite things to do is engage with the other members of Hillel. 

“I enjoy going to the offices and just chatting and getting to say hi to everyone that works there,” Scheinfeld said. 

He said at Hillel, he’s gained a community filled with nice people that he feels “super” comfortable with.

“I think Hillel has definitely strengthened my connection to being Jewish just because I was able to meet so many different people from so many different places, which makes the religion a little neater,” Scheinfeld said. 

Besides spending his time getting to know people and being involved at Hillel, Scheinfeld is busy being one of the nation’s best young breaststroke swimmers. As a member of the UT Swim team, Scheinfeld wakes up at the crack of dawn many days to swim his heart out alongside his teammates. 

Scheinfeld has the pursuit to one day participate in the Olympics. Scheinfeld trained for the Olympic trials that were supposed to have taken place this past summer. Due to Covid-19, those plans have been delayed, but he hopes he can resume the opportunity soon. 

When Scheinfeld is not busy participating in Hillel activities or swimming while training for the Olympics (which takes up a lot of time), he enjoys playing pick-up basketball at Gregory Gym on campus. 

After graduating from college, Scheinfeld has plans to attend law school- maybe even at UT. 

Texas Hillel is very proud of Charlie’s involvement and hard work and wishes him great success in his future endeavors!