If you had told me my freshman year of high school that in 4 years I would not only be going to Michigan State University, but that I would also be a D1 athlete, I would have told you that you were crazy. For as long as I could remember I was always flipping around or being thrown in the air. My mom even said I was doing cartwheels before I could walk.
In high school I was known as the bubbly, short, cheerleader and that kind of just stuck for 4 years. I always intended on continuing with cheerleading in college, but it just wasn’t in the cards for me. My freshman year at MSU I found a great group of friends that I got to call some of my best friends and we just all had a lot of fun together and enjoyed each other's company. I found that even with these amazing friendships I was still missing something, and that was being on a team.
Fast forward to my sophomore year and I was given the opportunity to fill that void. The MSU Women’s Rowing team was having walk on tryouts, though I knew I would never be a rower because of my size, I had heard about a position made just for us short people. Once I made the team I realized that being a coxswain was going to be more work than I had anticipated. Although you are not physically rowing on an erg or in a boat, you still have to take command of your team. Being a former cheerleader and captain, I thought it would come with a little bit more ease, but it took time to develop my assertiveness.
Describing what I did as a cheerleader was a lot easier than describing what my job is in a boat. When I was a cheerleader, I would be able to tell people I was the one who flipped around or that I was the top girl that they threw up in the air. Now, when people ask what I do, I find it never gets easier to explain it. Essentially, I am in charge of 8 people in a boat whether that is from their safety to running a practice plan the correct way. The number one job of coxswain is to steer straight. While that sounds easy, you have 8 girls that can all pull their weight differently so you have to compensate for that as well as other boats around you. The second job of being a coxswain is to run the practice plan efficiently, it is important that all of the boats are doing the same thing so it is the coxswains job to keep the rowers on task. You are also your rowers advocate, the relationship you have with the girls in your boat develops over time and you get to really know them as rowers in the boat and people outside of it.
After two years of being in the MSU Rowing program, I can honestly say I have made some of the most amazing friends and have some pretty great teammates. Although I’m not being thrown around anymore (although being thrown into the water after Big Tens is a good thing), the opportunity to be a Michigan State athlete has opened so many doors for me and has pushed me to be the person I wasn’t at 17. I’ve found that being part of a team at the caliber that is MSU Rowing has made me be more aware of all of the other things going on in my life. It's safe to say this sport definitely keeps me on my toes!
