Last year I started rowing for a new, collegiate, division 1 rowing team. I came in to college under the impression that I was going to get fast, we were going to win and the team would be like a group of best friends - all under the coaching of a man who was amazing at his job and someone who we would learn lots from and spend the next four years growing under his leadership. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

In High School I rowed under several different coaches who all wanted us to be the best we could be and motivated us to a path of success. These were people who I could talk to and be a voice of reason when it came to anything - sports related or not. In college, this coach did not value what the coaches in my past did. He would embarrass me as well as my teammates in front of the whole team, tear down my ideas to make me feel inferior and above all, he never gave me a chance. He pushed me to my limits but it was never enough for him. I began to dread going to practice each morning - constantly wondering if he would be in a good or bad mood that day and what mean, belittling things he would have to say to my teammates and I. I completely lost my love for the sport and forgot what I was doing it all for. The others in my class felt the same way. Many of them would cry in the shower after practice. I couldn’t stand to have my college years go by like this. I was extremely unhappy and wanted to quit.

But then he left. Just like that he left and took another job somewhere else. No goodbyes or any words of encouragement for the coming championship - he just left. My teammates and I were ecstatic, the man who made our lives hell for the past months was finally gone and we could start new again.

I struggled to find my way again, even under a new coaching staff. This year I came out stronger than ever, glad to be back and eager to go to practice again.