Jeremy was born into a household where success was almost boring in its inevitability. From his parents to his aunts and uncles, Jeremy was surrounded by genius businessmen, renowned doctors and lawyers, well-liked politicians and religious leaders – and of course, that one cousin who went to the Olympics for table tennis. Everyone seemed to have a natural ability for something, most often academics but certainly there were Hartensteins wowing audiences with beautiful music or inspiring others with steadfast activism. There was pressure to follow in those footsteps, to be sure, but most of that was self-made. When it came to his family and what they expected of him, Jeremy was to follow one simple rule: find something and dedicate yourself to it, fully and passionately. They believed that everything else would fall into place after that.

As a boy, they allowed him the time to figure out what he liked and what his talents were. They gave him a violin that belonged to his grandmother and got him lessons once he’d promised to take it seriously and practice regularly. Jeremy loved it, not only because the music and the act of playing were soothing to him, but because he felt connected to his relatives, to something his grandmother had loved to do. His father, a rabbi and a pillar of the community, started teaching Jeremy lessons from the Torah before he was even old enough to go to Hebrew school. Samuel believed in instilling good values at an early age in order to dissuade things like bullying and disobedience. He didn’t have to worry about that much with Jeremy, though. He had the ambitious gene in his blood and took to his education without complaint, in fact with relish. He was well-mannered and charmingly awkward, most of his peers laughing with him rather than at him whenever he made a goof of himself.

It wasn’t until Jeremy decided to try out for the basketball team in middle school that he saw the darker underbelly of growing up. The boys going out for the team made faces at him like he’d walked into a gun fight with a butter knife. Though he was surprisingly tall for his age, he was also lanky and wore huge glasses that he’d never felt self-conscious about before that moment. His parents had always taught him to believe in himself no matter what, the both of them subscribers to the ‘anything you put your mind to’ philosophy. For the first time in his life, Jeremy wondered if that was actually true. He second-guessed himself and flubbed the tryout – and what was worse? The captain-to-be nailed him in the face with the ball in what he claimed for years was an accident. Jeremy’s glasses were broken and he required stitches to fix the damage to his face. He didn’t try out for another sports team after that, instead sticking to shooting hoops with his cousins and brothers when they weren’t too busy for it.

Jeremy lost his mother in December of his eigth grade year. It was an abrupt, unexplainable loss – a fall while skiing, no helmet, and she was gone. His mother, Eliza, had loved to ski. She’d even been on a racing team during her teenage years. As an adult, she enjoyed an annual vacation with the whole family perhaps the most out of any event. Everyone could tell when the trip was coming up because she would absolutely glow with excitement. As a family law attorney, Eliza was often bombarded with depressing stories about spouses mistreating spouses and parents mistreating their children. So any chance to get away for a while and focus on the beautiful bond she had with her own flesh and blood – that was what she lived for.

Jeremy had seen her fall plenty of times before. They’d all seen each other crash and burn a few times on the slopes. Once he’d lost both skis, both poles, his goggles and nearly his pants, of all things, with the force of the mishap. Never had he expected he would see his mother go down and not get back up. His older brothers, off on a different trail through the trees, didn’t find out what happened until they were able to hear their cell phones at the bottom of the mountain. They found Jeremy, Sam, and about a dozen personnel surrounding Eliza. Sam instructed them to take Jeremy back to the lodge, and they did, handing him hot chocolate and rubbing his back like that would fix any of it.

The funeral was long and heartfelt. Samuel gave a touching sermon, and several friends and other family members spoke on Eliza’s behalf. Not Jeremy, though. He was still too shell-shocked. It would take many weeks for him to process that she wasn’t coming back. Things slowly arrived at some sort of normal, and when the first elections came up for student council, his father suggested he run for candidacy to try and take his mind off of things. Jeremy was never one to ignore his father’s advice, so he put his name in the ring, not expecting to have much of a chance.

Lo and behold, he was elected Vice President, and the role became a startling comfort to him. He made new friends, one in particular who was by far the easiest to get along with. Carlisle was on the quieter side, introverted in a way most high school boys weren't. Jeremy found his personality refreshing and well-matched with his own. Running student council with him was a breeze; they were a well-oiled machine by the end of their four years and Jeremy was genuinely sad to see that time in his life go.

The next step: college. Jeremy had decided a few months after his mother's death that he wanted to go into law and continue the legacy she'd left behind. He applied to Northwestern and is about to graduate with a degree in Psychology. In an effort to get more real-world experience for his eventual law school applications, he also worked part-time as a legal assistant for a tough criminal defense attorney, and will continue to work there with a full-time position following graduation. It is occasionally grueling work, but Jeremy loves it and can't wait until he's qualified to do more than simple filing and client correspondence. He dreams about the day when he will walk into court a respected and successful lawyer.

▸ full name Jeremy Adam Hartenstein ▸ also known as Jer, Bagel, Remy ▸ birth date + age June 26, 1993; 21 ▸ currently resides Chicago, IL ▸ occupation Paralegal ▸ hometown Chicago, IL ▸ relationship status Content ▸ family Samuel Hartenstein (father)
Eliza Hartenstein (mother, deceased)
, ______ Hartenstein (brother, 23), ______ Hartenstein (brother, 26)
______ Hartenstein (brother, 29) ▸ pets Family dog, Ace. Now stays with Jer at his apartment.

▸ FACTS: » Plays violin every night. It helps him decompress from the day.

» Has a decent sense of humor, but oftentimes forgets to laugh at jokes he genuinely finds funny, simply because he doesn't tend to be overly expressive.

» Still practices Judaism. He leads a kosher lifestyle and attends Shabbat every week. Sometimes he has doubts about his faith, but he's so used to the routine at this point that they don't keep him from worship.

» Would kill for fresh bagels with Jalapeno cream cheese.

» Likes to drink, but has to be very careful since he's an admitted lightweight and ends up turning into an overly affectionate, slurring mess whenever he imbibes.

» Got asthma from his father. He always carries an inhaler with him.

» Definitely a dog person, but would consider getting a cat if only for the low maintenance. He misses having a pet in general and plans to remedy the situation as soon as he's out of college.

▸ NPCs: Samuel Hartenstein || Jeremy's father. He is a rabbi at Temple Beth Shalom in Hawthorn. He has been teaching Jeremy how to be a thoughtful, compassionate member of the Jewish community since he was a child. Samuel seems shorter than he is due to perpetually walking with a hunched back. He is actually around 5'10", makign for a comical height difference with his wife when she was alive. Jeremy and Samuel look almost nothing alike in the face. Samuel's features are harsher, more craggy-looking; people are always surprised with how warm he is since he looks somewhat intimidating.

Eliza Hartenstein || Deceased. Jeremy's mother. She was a family law attorney who never lost her idealism despite the trying nature of her job. Jeremy has her delicate features, but thankfully not her height. She stood at a whopping 5'2" and was always in good shape. Health was important to her, both in the mental and physical sense. Winter was her favorite season. She died in a skiing accident on December 29th, 2006.

▸ PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: Jeremy is 6', the tallest in his family, and rather slight in build. He has no tattoos or piercings and very few scars on his body, the most noticeable being the ones on his cheeks after his glasses were broken against them. He's been able to grow a beard since he was thirteen, but stayed baby-faced until college, when he allowed a little more scruff to grow in. He likes to dress well so as to promote confidence and competence to anyone he meets, albeit his fashion is decidedly quirky. Sometimes, he enjoys a good ratty t-shirt and sweatpants, but typically only when he's home alone.

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