Christian Manja '22 Recruiting Profile

Rowing thus far has been one of the most ambitious activities I have ever taken part in, in my life alongside academics. The sport has managed to alter my work ethic changing the way I want to live my life as a whole, as well as my approach to obstacles I encounter along the way. Not only is rowing a sport to me, but it has established itself as part of me, greatly increasing my already existing passion for teamwork in many areas of my life like my musical ventures, and giving me a new sense of motivation and drive to become the absolute best version of myself. 

Pushing myself to my limits and remaining there has become comfortable. Both my parents are extremely diligent people originally from the Middle East who wanted nothing but the best for my siblings and me, and so I strove to work hard to reach and become the best. This meant staying at the top of my class in school and consistently working on extracurriculars like playing tennis, piano, and violin to develop different skill sets.  As I grew up, my interests out of school altered such as switching over to playing golf rather than tennis and learning to play a traditional middle eastern instrument called the qanun rather than the violin causing me to indulge in embracing my family’s middle eastern culture. These switches would drastically change my future opportunities. My life became centered around working with people around me and caused me to develop a great passion for teamwork. While still in middle school, I began playing in several Arabic orchestras with people in college and out of college and nothing has joyed me more than being in those group environments.

My affinity for group activities became an obvious trend as I entered high school. I never was a person that got much joy out of self-gain, and the times I truly enjoyed, were those when I was part of something bigger than myself. Golf was not sustaining my need for self-growth and didn't give me the satisfaction of taking part in a team to accomplish great challenges, but rowing offered me exactly those things. 

Rowing provided me with a new outlet of uncapped growing potential in strength and endurance, but also placed me in a group dynamic allowing me to focus on the team as a whole. Each day that I was able to attend practice was a great day for me regardless of the two-hour drive I had to make to reach the club. The workload that amounted after each practice was irrelevant as each practice brought me unmatched excitement, and it didn’t matter to me how long I had to stay up after to complete my school work. The thrill that I experienced leading up to and during each and every race overshadowed any pain, fatigue, or stress that was present in me and made every single day of rowing worth it. 

Experiences like these are why rowing means so much to me, and are only some of the reasons why I am actively working towards becoming the best recruitment candidate. Being recruited for rowing will give me the opportunity to further advance my rowing career, something I feel as though I’m simply beginning, as well as put me on a team with other like-minded high striving individuals with who I hope to forge great connections and hold throughout my years in college and even after.