i don’t row just “to do a sport.” i don’t row just so i can eat all i want and still wear a bikini in the summer. i don’t row just so i can get into harvard more easily than anyone else. i row because i love to row. i may not always enjoy getting up at six o’clock every morning, including weekends, but i love being on the water that early when the air is fresh and cool. i may not always enjoy spending 6 of 7 days for 3/4 of the year working out for 3 long hours, but i always love winning a race and standing on that medal dock. i may not always enjoy sitting around waiting for my blisters to heal, i may not always enjoy throwing up after an erg test when i may or may not have broken my time—catching crabs, rushing the slide, lunging at the catch, skying my blade. i may not always enjoy that pain, that disappointment, those flaws or bad habits. but i always love the satisfaction of winning, of all that hard work paying off, of knowing my team is top in the country because we do simply what we love, the best.