Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Rowing Journal - Jillian O'Mara
11/6/2008 7:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
Nov. 6, 2008
Last spring, after months of applications and decisions, I was finally ready to tell everyone where I was going to college. When I said, "Bucknell," people usually did a double take, and I would add, "...in Pennsylvania." They then usually smiled and nodded and asked, "But, why would you want to go so far away?" To be honest, I had no idea. Coming to college was one of the scariest things I have ever done. As August 18th drew nearer the butterflies grew in the pit of my stomach. They stayed as I drove across rural Pennsylvania, getting farther and farther away from my home in Seattle, Washington. They stayed when I met my roommate and they stayed as I attended my first classes. But, the moment I placed my oar in the rushing water of the Susquehanna River for the first time, I knew I was at home.
College has been an interesting adjustment. Don't get me wrong, I love it here, but it is different. I have to get used to the fact that sun doesn't mean it is warm outside, Washington means Washington, D.C., not Washington State, and that all the trees lose their leaves in the fall. Despite all these differences, I feel right at home every time I close the gate to my oarlock and climb into my boat.
I can't describe what it is like to feel so at home so quickly. Despite the fact that I had never before rowed in a single, the motion of the stroke and the feeling of being on the water is all the same. Sculling has allowed me to improve in ways I never before thought I would. It allows me to focus completely on my stroke, my form and my power. It is like sitting on a balance beam strung across a deep valley and trying to make it move...and trying to look good doing it. It is such a challenge, but there is no better feeling than that of completely propelling yourself across thousands of meters of water. You can hear the rush of the river beneath the boat as you glide seamlessly across the surface of the water. It is a beautiful thing to feel as if you are part of the Susquehanna itself. I cannot believe that I am only eight weeks into four years of this incredible experience.
- Jillian O'Mara '12
