Personal Statement
I became interested in rowing because my dad rowed in high school and the stories he shared about the sport inspired me to try it. I love to row and was going to try out as a rower, however my coaches suggested I cox and I really enjoyed it. Because of the circumstances this year, we would often be low on rowers so I spent a lot of time actually rowing in the boat along with coxing. I have found that rowing in the boat has taught me a lot as I am able to see things from the rowers perspective. I have also been able to listen to my fellow coxswains in a race scenario and feel how the boat responds to certain calls, which has helped me improve as a coxswain.
Rowing is a sport where everyone must work together to make the boat move, and that is really important to me, there are no ball hogs in rowing. Rowing is the ultimate team sport. I also love that rowing allows me to be surrounded by nature almost every practice, as I am a very outdoorsy person. When I am on the water, I try to make my boat as fast as it can be. Whatever boat I am in, I want to help that boat perform the best it can. I love rowing, I want to have fun and give everyone the best experience they can have, and that is why I love to cox because you are given the reins and what you do influences the boat.
Some of my favorite things to do besides rowing are skiing, mountain biking, playing hockey and baseball. School is one of my top priorities and my favorite classes are math and science. I am very interested in architecture and have been taking different architecture classes in school. I participate in my school's ELS club which allows students to work and make friends with students with disabilities.
During Coronavirus, our rowing schedule, like most things, hasn’t been normal. We were lucky enough to be on the water and have a somewhat normal season this fall however we still had more downtime than usual. I spent some of this time working on my coxing, among other things, I participated in multiple zoom clinics including Laura Simon’s coxswain clinic, and the US Rowing’s Virtual JNT Fall Camp. I also did a little sculling with the Lake Leelanau Rowing Club near my grandma’s house in Michigan. Besides rowing, I have spent my extra free time doing a lot of outdoor and sport related activities. I improved my skills and did a lot of, dirt jumping (which is a type of mountain biking), Cross country mountain biking, working with wood (including making jumps for my bike), ice hockey, and downhill skiing. Overall, I am optimistic for the future and hope things will start feeling a little more “normal” in the coming months.
