The 2022 Senior Perspectives is the 17th 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.

Claire Albert
Hometown: Ballwin, Mo.
Concentration: Psychology
House Affiliation: Pforzheimer

It is challenging to capture my feelings about Harvard Athletics and lightweight rowing.  What is clear to me however, is the immense gratitude I feel for my teammates.  Returning to rowing after a year away from campus was daunting.  I realized quickly that the sport did not have the pull it once did. The early mornings, splashes of cold Charles water, hours on the erg, and stress of boat selection and weight making gradually wore me down. My teammates consistently dusted me off, propped me up, and supported me with kindness through an immensely challenging year.  Our culture of belongingness and care for one another is something I am intensely grateful for.  It feels truly powerful to be so consistently engaged with our group of unique, talented, complex, and passionate women. 

More than any personal performance or race result, I am proud of the relationships I've built with teammates past and present. I know these bonds will stay with me for a lifetime. I am proud of the work we've done to expand our impact outside of Harvard, leading the creation of a partnership with Row Boston to support their academic programming with tutoring and virtual college visits. It has been an incredible honor to lead the team as a co-captain for two years. What an enormous privilege it is to wear the black and white Radcliffe crest as a testament to our program's history and the women who have shaped it. As graduation approaches, I feel ready to carry the formative experiences I've had as a Harvard student-athlete into the next chapters of my life.