Jack Kornfeld’s typical day as a student-athlete at the University of California began somewhere around 5:30 a.m. when he woke up and joined his teammates on the road heading to practice with the men’s crew program.
After nearly two hours on the water, he headed back to campus to grab some breakfast and get ready for the day. It was then on to class, a quick lunch and then sometimes back on the water for afternoon practice. His late afternoons were sometimes spent at a local hospital where he volunteered and shadowed surgeons. Back on campus, he headed to Stanley Hall and the seventh-floor lab where he spent the next several hours conducting research and experiments. As the clock approached the 11 o’clock hour, he returned to his room for the evening.
More than likely, the next day was a repeat of the same routine.
Kornfeld not only welcomed the daily grind, he completed it with honors. The Golden Bear finished his undergraduate studies with the highest cumulative GPA of any graduating student-athlete at Cal, earning him the men’s Neufeld Scholar-Athlete Award.
“I don’t really believe that I’m really that smart,” Kornfeld said. “I really enjoy the work so it makes it easier. With other people in classes I’ve been with, especially computer science, those guys are smart. They’re smart and quick. I just enjoy the material.”
Kornfeld added another piece of hardware to his already impressive collection of achievements at the end of May. As the coxswain for Cal’s third varsity eight, he helped guide the boat to a bronze medal at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships in New Jersey.
“I’ll miss the close-knit group of guys and all the experiences I enjoyed here at Cal,” Kornfeld said. “When you are in the grind with having practice in the morning, then school, then more practice, and then more school, you don’t realize how much you are doing. I am going to miss all of this, practicing with my teammates, eating with my teammates, hanging out with my teammates … we did everything together.”
A Seattle native, Kornfeld chose Cal over Cornell out of high school and never looked back.
“I knew I wanted to be somewhere nice, in beautiful weather and be challenged,” Kornfeld said. “I liked the school and the program a lot. It was a cool scene, which made the decision really easy.”
Kornfeld, whose grandfather, Peter Kornfeld, was a doctor at both Stanford and in New York, is studying to become a doctor himself. He recently completed requirements for his degree in molecular and cell biology
“I’ve always been interested in going into medicine,” explained Kornfeld, who also received the Molecular and Cell Biology Departmental Citation, the highest honor given to a graduating senior in MCB. “When I got to my sophomore year, I really wanted to branch a little bit of biology, chemistry and physics. I think the emphasis on biochemistry and molecular biology was my best option.”
When not on the water with his crew or hanging out with friends around Berkeley, it is a safe bet Kornfeld would be on the seventh floor of Stanley Hall on campus working in the lab.
“The way it usually works is you have a set research goal or topic that you are researching,” Kornfeld said. “In terms of how you want to approach it and solve it, there is a lot of independence there and you get to think for yourself and really attack it however you want to attack it. Depending on which lab you’re in and which technique they use, you usually use similar techniques to go after the problem but then kind of put your own spin on it.”
He has contributed to work in the Nogales Lab in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology that has been published in the journals of Molecular Cell, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Science.
While he had different quiet locations around campus where he would study, one thing was constant … his headphones.
“I just put headphones in and get in a groove, study and jam out,” Kornfeld said. “If I’m there late in the lab, there are usually one or two guys still around there and they’ll just see me with my head bobbing and stretching and say ‘You need to calm down.’ I just put on Pandora and set it on shuffle.”
The graduate will continue his research in the lab over the next year and also begin work as an assistant in a medical clinic to gain more clinical experience. Kornfeld has begun the application process for medical school and hopes to enroll during the fall of 2016. He will continue to shadow different surgeons along the way.
“It gives me the chance to observe and make sure it’s something I’m interested in,” Kornfeld said. “Seeing the behind-the-scenes stuff, that if you were a patient you wouldn’t really see, that is extremely valuable.”
Kornfeld also found great value in taking what he learned in his studies and applying it to his role as a coxswain for the Bears.
“A big thing with being a coxswain is being very clear and effective with what you are communicating,” Kornfeld said. “You have to really get an important part of your race plan to your guys while you’re going at a maximum sprint. They’re all over the place, so it’s really important to nail down and effectively communicate it. Doing that has really helped me with presenting my work. When I’m in a high-stress situation or nervous, I can’t let that get to me. I still need to articulate. I have to have the drive to do the work and make sure it’s my best work and communicate that to everyone.”
Kornfeld’s entrance into the sport of rowing came during his sophomore year at a private high school in Vancouver, Canada. It started, however, because he wanted to follow in his older brother’s footsteps and play hockey. While playing hockey at the school, he began to take interest in rowing and got involved in the sport as a coxswain. Several years later, he was recruited by Cal to be a coxswain for one of the nation’s elite rowing programs.
After serving in the Bears’ open eight as a freshman and sophomore, he earned a spot in Cal’s varsity four as a junior. In his first season in the Bears’ four, Kornfeld helped his boat to a bronze medal at the IRA Championships in 2014.
Outside of rowing, Kornfeld also has a passion for skiing around the back country in Canada where he has done downhill skiing and also big mountain skiing.
Kornfeld said the key to his achievements overall is the balance in his life. From hanging out with friends at Cal, to exciting research projects in the lab, to rowing for Cal and enjoying many of the activities at the university, he experienced all there was to offer in Berkeley.
“Too much of one thing, and it can really stress me out,” he explained. “Having those three different things play such a big role of my life has helped keep me leveled out.”
It does make for a long day, though.
Better make sure that alarm is set for 5:30 a.m.
