Its impossible to believe that my four-year undergraduate experience is coming to a close. I know it sounds cliché, but those four years went way too fast.
My beautiful wonderful team!
Each department has a reception to honor graduates and their families, and I ran into my freshman year roommate. Seeing her brought back so many memories from freshman year, and how we’ve evolved into the (hypothetically) more mature and educated people we are today. It was inspiring to see all of my friends receive awards for their efforts in the weeks preceding graduation and eventually walk across the stage under sunny skies to receive their diploma.
The graduation ceremony itself was a bit of a surreal experience. Basking in the sun in Baker stadium, I thought that someone was going to shake me and say, “Don’t worry Rachael, you’re only dreaming! You still have a few more months!” But oddly, nobody work me from my dream, and I did receive my diploma. The busy and much too short weekend was enjoyed spending time with friends and family.
The Fam!
After all of the graduation parties had been attended, families had gone home, it was time for me to buckle down again. Immediately following graduation, the women’s crew team trained for a week at Lake Samish in Bellingham, WA. The UPS Women’s Crew team is, for it’s 10th consecutive year, headed to the NCAA National Championships!! This year, Nationals are in Camden, New Jersey (We’re flying over Montana as I write this). We were disappointed to find that we only got an ‘at-large’ bid, that allows us to bring one boat of eight rowers instead of a full bid (two boats and the majority of our team). This only fired up our team to push ourselves even harder this summer in order to receive the full bid next year.
1st practice at Nationals... Just a little rain.
This will be my fourth time at the National Championships and is another poignant moment for reflection. My participation as an NCAA athlete has been one of the most influential throughout my college experience. Over the years, the Crew team has been my family, helping each other through tears, pain, joy, lots of sweat, but more than anything, laughter and love. Every year is different: seniors graduate, freshmen join the team, people step into leadership roles, and coaches come and go. We learn to roll with the punches, work hard, support and be supported to represent our team and Logger athletics.
My amazing research advisor, Peter Wimberger. Thanks for everything!
In the hectic few days between training in Bellingham and jumping on a plane to New Jersey, I spent some time back in my lab, passing down knowledge to Karina, my research buddy from last summer. I felt accomplished knowing that I was able to teach a peer lab protocols I had honed over my time researching. I’m going to be in Karina’s shoes soon as I head to the University of Wyoming for a summer position as a field assistant. I’m going to be working under one advisor, but on many different projects for multiple grad students. My work will range from Short-horned toad population dynamics in Wyoming to alpine plants Silene acaulis and Polygonum viviparium populations in Colorado and Alaska.
To watch the Women’s Crew team race at Nationals, directions should be at this link in a few days: http://www.ncaa.com/sports/rowing/d3
Or follow the Women’s crew team through our National Champs experience through our blog at: http://www.loggerathletics.com/landing/index