Tory's Top Ten Reasons to Hire a Rower

As I move into my senior year of college, all everyone (read: parents and relatives and other assorted adults) wants to talk about is “after graduation”. Seniors hate this question. The average college student wakes up at noon, procrastinates as much as possible and drinks three nights a week. For any athlete, this isn’t usually an option. For a collegiate rower, it’s impossible. Anyone who knows our schedule knows that we wake up before 6 a.m. to train and usually have to have finished our day by 11 p.m. in order to get adequate sleep. In that time period, we have to balance multiple practices, classes, homework, and stops for frequent eating. In this respect, I feel that rowing prepares athletes for the real world better than college itself actually does. As a rower, I believe that I have some advantages in the job market that many of my peers do not have.

1. Rowers are used to early hours. You need me to get up at 6 a.m.? That’s 45 more minutes of sleep than I got six days a week in college. I also won’t show up for work bleary-eyed and needing a coffee IV, unlike many other recent college grads.

2. Rowers work really, really hard. In rowing, the ratio of practice time to racing time is depressingly high in favor of practice. Almost three hours a day, six days a week between September and May for six minutes of racing approximately ten times a spring. We’re used to putting in a lot of work for a small payoff.

3. Rowers are used to being yelled at constructively criticized. I spend most of my mornings hearing things like “Mather, relax your shoulders!” and “Square up earlier!” through a megaphone or a microphone. Being told I need to work harder on a project or that I’m not doing something in the right manner isn’t going to phase me.

4. Rowers are used to dealing with people. Name the person that you dislike in your office. Is it the person who constantly complains? The person who never pulls their own weight? The person who throws you under the bus to make themselves look better? As a rower, I have dealt with all of those people. I haven’t just simply tolerated them either. I’ve had to work with them and trust them to have my back in a racing situation, meaning that I am fully prepared to work with these people in an office environment.

5. Rowers are team players. Too many times in my rowing career, I have been upset at a teammate for not showing up to practice and not allowing me to row because of numbers. I have vowed never to be that teammate and work as hard as I can to not allow my actions to hurt other people.

6. Rowers are humble. In rowing, there is no MVP. It doesn’t matter if I have the fastest erg in the boathouse or the most experience in my boat; I don’t have the option to do well until every other person in my boat gets faster as well. A standout athlete on a mediocre team in any other sport gets recognition; a standout rower usually does not.

7. Rowers are punctual. Showing up to practice late usually means punishment in the form of hills or sprints. While I might not encounter that at a job, a fear of being late has been ingrained into my skull. In fact, I’ll probably show up fifteen minutes early to make sure my desk is set up correctly and to make sure there’s a full pot of coffee brewing.

8. Rowers have good time-management skills. We know what it takes to balance a busy schedule. Procrastination is not an option when it comes to excelling in both school and rowing. Rowers have a keen ability to pick out what urgently needs to get done and what can be left for another day.

9. Rowers are strong. Need the communal water bottle changed? I can do that. Need a heavy box lifted off of a high shelf? I can do that. This might not be a reason to hire a rower, but it certainly helps us earn our keep.

10. Rowers are good at making coffee. But only if you like it strong. When it comes to caffeine, I don’t mess around.

Now this article isn’t meant to bash Average Jane College Student. There were many mornings where my alarm went off at 5:15 a.m. when I wished I was her. Sometimes I wonder if employers look at my resume and think “Why would she put so much time into a sport? Maybe if she had put that much time into her grades, she would have a 4.0!” But I do think that college doesn’t always prepare people for “the real world”. I believe that I learned more people skills and discipline on the water than I ever did in a classroom. With that being said, would you hire me (and my teammates)?

At the Beginning...

I have always loved writing and, as my chest of journals in my room can prove, I’ve been doing it forever. However, I came somewhat late to the world of athletics. I was on a summer swim team starting at age nine but I didn’t start competing fiercely until I joined my high school swim team when I was a freshman. As a shy kid who would rather observe the crowd than participate, this environment should have been uncomfortable. Instead I found out that I was talented enough to hold my own against far more experienced swimmers and I threw myself into the sport. That same spring, I also joined my high school’s crew team. Through both of those teams I was able to overcome my shyness and channel it into something productive. By the end of my senior year, I was voted captain of the swim team and held two school records. I was also stroke seat of the most winning boat in my crew program’s history to that point. I knew I wanted to continue with athletics in college.

I chose Marist College because of its strong English program and because the walk to the boathouse was ten minutes away from every dorm on campus. Although I’m likely too small to ever be moved out of the bow pair, I love rowing at the Division I Varsity level. Rowing might not allow me to have a “typical college (i.e. party) lifestyle”, but I wouldn’t change anything. Through rowing, I’ve learned a lot about how hard I am able to push myself and others. The people I’ve met through this sport continue to inspire, influence and amaze me every day.  

This is one of the reasons why, last summer, I tried a triathlon at the suggestion of my rowing coach. I crossed the finish line, went home and immediately signed up for two more races. I had found yet another sport that I loved. Athletics has now become an integral part of my life. Through this blog, I want to showcase my writing ability as well as my passion for all sports. My long term plan is to somehow find a job that allows me to stay involved in athletics for a long time, whether it is by competing, coaching, writing, planning events or being a personal assistant to someone really, really fast. 

Everyone goes through transitional periods in their life but it seems to me that the transition from the last year of college to the first year of “real life” is a big one. In that time there are a lot of changes, whether it’s change of location, friendships or job. Through all of the previous “big changes” in my life, training has kept me sane. A sweaty workout always makes all hard decisions look a little bit easier. As I come to this transitional time, I am going to need training in my life more than ever. Using this blog as a vehicle to share my athletic experiences and explore different aspects of my sports, I hope to reach out to people who have my same level of enthusiasm for athletics. Training in Transition is not just my project, but a project cultivated and inspired by those who successfully balance training, racing, school, work and relationships in their lives.