The 2016 Senior Perspectives is the 11th in a series of annual collections. Senior captains and representatives of teams at Harvard have been invited to contribute viewpoints based on personal experience from both their senior seasons and full varsity careers at Harvard.

For a complete listing of 2016 Senior Perspectives, click here.

Olivia Henry, Women's Lightweight Crew, Team Co-Captain
Hometown: Manhasset, N.Y.
Concentration: Applied Mathematics
House Affiliation: Lowell

When people ask me what I like about rowing, a number of memories immediately flood my mind. These include incredible come-from-behind wins, beautiful sunrise practices, tough races and practices, and special moments I've shared with my teammates. I wish I could say it's been all good times, but, to be honest, my most vivid crew flashback is from my sophomore year of high school. I arrived at practice on a stifling hot day, and my coach announced “2K Challenge!” which meant we had to do a 2k erg test (the most dreaded piece in the rowing world).  He didn't say it, but we knew line-ups for the most critical part of the season, the championship regattas - States, Stotes, SRAAs and Youth Nationals - were riding on how well we performed that day. I glared at my coach, thinking how dare he spring this on us with no warning, and proceeded to sit on the erg and try to make myself feel any motivation at all. I raced the 2k thinking I was suffocating and going to pass out with each stroke, hating the coach, hating the sport, vowing to quit that same day. My mind chanted with each stroke, “I hate this, I hate this, I hate this!” I never thought at that point I'd end up rowing in college, much less for four years on one of the best teams in the nation. I don't remember why I kept going to practice after that day; it was honestly probably just because my mom made me, but before I knew it I had made it through many more seasons and was seriously hoping to row in college. Inch by inch, race after race, as I slowly began to appreciate rowing and the grueling practices and discipline required, I began to really enjoy it. I don't think I will ever be able to say erging is fun, but I have learned to endure it. I realize that rowing has been the most rewarding sport I've ever done, and it is possible to have fun doing it. In retrospect, I know the best part of the sport is the camaraderie and bond you form with the rowers in your boat and with your teammates as together you withstand the grueling practices that are unlike any other.

The next thing that comes to mind when I think about rowing is how far I've come from that one day of practice, and how rowing has had such an impact on so many other aspects of my life. Rowing has shaped my attitude in facing everyday challenges and tasks in my life. Despite the hard practices and the days I really thought I just couldn't do it, I surprised myself and survived, getting faster and stronger than I ever imagined. That has transferred to my ability to be tenacious about schoolwork and life tasks. There are times at Harvard when the workload is daunting; however, the stamina I learned from crew gave me the courage to tackle those tasks with the same endurance.  I came to love how my sport shined through in all aspects of my life. There is an indescribable satisfaction in finishing a practice that at one point I never thought I would make it through. After four years of college rowing, I've had some incredible racing experiences and made my most supportive and closest friends. Crew has showed me that, although one particular challenge might seem like the absolute hardest thing in the world, it will eventually be something I can look back at and laugh that I ever was stressed about it. It's given me the opportunity to test my physical limits in a way I never thought possible, and it was only possible because I constantly felt I was working toward something so much bigger and more important than myself, I was putting in all the hard work and long practices for the girls sitting in front and behind me.

Now, when I think about rowing I don't immediately think of all the tough workouts, early morning practices, the practices in the snow, sleet, or rain. I think of how far I've come from the days where I couldn't get past how physically hard practices were, to the point where I look at each practice as a challenge that I know I can handle. I love going to practice because I realize how lucky I am to be able to row, to set goals and to work hard for my teammates; we achieve those goals together. Rowing in college made me realize that it's a privilege to be surrounded by a group of strong teammates who have showed me that we can push ourselves further than I ever thought I was capable of pushing myself, and they even taught me that I can have fun doing it.