The 2023 Senior Perspectives is the 18th 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.
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Nathan Wu
Hometown: San Diego, Calif.
Sport: Men's Water Polo
Concentration: Molecular & Cellular Biology
House: Eliot
My name is Nathan Wu from sunny San Diego and I will be attending medical school after my college years. I had the privilege of being a part of the Harvard Men's Water Polo team as a goalie from 2019-21, a Student Assistant Coach for the 2022 season and a manager for the Harvard Women's Water Polo team for the 2023 season.
"I never imagined playing collegiate water polo. Walking on and becoming a part of this team; this family, has been the most fun and rewarding experience so far at Harvard and the best decision I ever could have made." That was a quote I wrote in a letter to the Friends of Harvard Water Polo, and I can attest that those words still ring true after four years.
The reasons I decided to walk on were because of the hospitality and culture of the team. From my original seniors – Austin, Charlie, and Bennie – to my coaches – Coach Ted, Cassie, Jackie, Cory, and Jacob – they have all been so supportive and helpful with their advice and are examples in and out of the pool. My teammates have become some of my closest friends, and I even have had the opportunity to be block mates with some of my teammates in my class,
Kaleb Archer and RJ Brockett, who have made for the best time in Eliot House.
It has always been a fun challenge balancing athletics with academics at Harvard, but I have found parallels between my athletic and academic experiences. I remember my junior fall class, which was my favorite science course at Harvard: Glucose. It was focused on the biochemistry of metabolism, the worldwide health implications of obesity and diabetes, and hands-on experience with mice in the lab. The course has also featured wonderful speakers including patients, a Holocaust survivor and a top patent lawyer putting faces behind the topics
of obesity, human research and pharmacology. Our professor, Dr. Lee, is a cardiologist and a principal investigator. He has shared many life stories about the hardships and the team dynamics in the medical world. I always linked these stories to the lessons that Coach Ted, the rest of the coaching staff, and my teammates taught me in the pool every day. For example, Dr. Lee was explaining how there are around forty people involved in a successful transplant of an organ; there are people sent out in the field to harvest the organ from the donor, people running tests to match the organ to an appropriate recipient, people ready to provide the recipient with a long-awaited organ, etc. Dr. Lee emphasized that there are people in many different positions, each having a certain job at a certain time. Some jobs can be done by a nurse while some need to be performed by a surgeon, but if every job is done right, the transplant will be successful. Because of the immense training the medical personnel is put through and their dedication to a common goal, a human life can be saved. This reminded me of how every one of us had found a way to best help the team and how, if we each did our part at the right time, we could accomplish magnificent feats. If we were working in rhythm with each other and playing as one within our system, there was not a team in the country that could stop us. It is great to see that Harvard Water Polo helped prepare me for some skills in the medical world.
As a team, we always strived to play in our system and play selflessly for one another. As for me, I always played not just for my current teammates but also for my old teammates, the Friends of Harvard Water Polo, my coaches, and my parents.
I have come to realize that these experiences have not been unique to me. As the Vice President of the Student Athlete Advisory Council this past year, I have gotten to hear the experiences of many other Harvard athletes. It gave me a greater understanding of how much we learn time management, sacrifice, communication, resilience, respect, and trust. I have learned to realize that spending 20+ hours a week while taking classes and doing research at Harvard has not been a source of stress but a blessing and opportunity to learn valuable life lessons, build loving relationships, and play the sport I love. I am forever grateful. Thanks be to God.
