This past weekend, Skidmore crew participated in the Head of the Fish regatta right in our own town of Saratoga. It was the first real race for us novices, and though we have a week left of the official season, it marked a culmination of all that we have done this fall.
Upon arriving at Skidmore I was unsure about continuing with rowing- I had rowed in high school but I was worried about collegiate rowing being too much of a time commitment, or being too intense. Visions of 5 am practices and grueling erg pieces terrified me, but I went to the informational meetings anyway, and a few weeks later, I found myself at the first practice.
In the last few months, what I have found is that the benefits of collegiate rowing far outweigh the drawbacks. For one thing, it turns out that we (novices) have afternoon practices rather than morning practices, which seems like a small thing but improves one's attitude toward the sport vastly. Being able to wake up at a reasonable time, go to class, get some work done, and then head to practice to finish off the day has been a perfect system. There are definitely days when I would rather take a nap than go to practice, or stay in the library to finish some work, but once I arrive at the boathouse I am always glad to be there. As for being too intense, I may take this back if I continue with the sport, but I have found the work to be far more rewarding than painful. It can be intense- running in the rain, doing far too many burpees, or finishing an erg piece often leaves me feeling sick and wanting to quit. What I have learned as a novice though, is that changing my mindset toward hard work makes all of the difference. My coach makes sure to always drive this point home- he tells us to train our brains to "think of it as a challenge, not a crisis," and that has been unfailingly helpful.
Being a part of a community of like-minded people has been fun, motivational, and rewarding. We all commiserate over the work together, but we get it done. For the most part my teammates are freshmen, and being on this team the first semester of college has been a major part of the initial Skidmore experience. Being on a team is a unifying and worthwhile endeavor- it keeps you in shape, it facilitates friendships, and it gives you values you can use in other areas of your life. Rowing in high school, while very different from my current experience, was the best decision I ever made. I made some of my closest friends, and I learned a sport that I have come to love. I may only be a Novice, but so far, rowing at Skidmore has been an overwhelmingly positive experience as well. I never thought that I would be a college athlete, but here I am with my first race under my belt and I am enjoying it immensely. The uniforms may not be flattering and the practices may not be easy, but I am very glad that I chose to row this fall, and cannot wait to continue in the spring.
