Senior Crew Member Anna-Maria Lleshi

Q: What’s your favorite part of crew? 

AL: I would say the team. Our team is co-ed, so we have guys and girls, and it’s really fun because everyone –but mainly the guys —  are stupid sometimes, so we get to experience some of the shenanigans. But also we push each other really hard, and it’s been great to meet other people who struggle and can show you how to get through hard times. Now I’m an upperclassman, but when I was younger, it was just really cool to see how the upperclassmen helped me grow, and how I’m doing that for the underclassmen now. 

Q: How do you feel that crew has impacted you; do you feel it is more than the sport, just general personal life like school?

AL: Definitely. I think it’s shown me first of all work ethic. I remember I had no time management, and you have to work hard at crew, so I’ve seen how my hard work can change my times and make me faster, and I’ve translated that to my school work. I’ve been like ‘I want to get better grades or keep my grades, I need to work hard and be consistent.’ Also, I would say it just changed me as a person and made me more resilient, and that’s also because of my teammates, they’ve impacted me so much. 

Q: Do you think you face any challenges while participating in the sport? 

AL: Definitely mental challenges, the sport is really hard in the sense that it’s just you and a screen for winter conditioning, because you’re on the rowing machine. It’s hard because you’re alone in that sense, and you have to do the work. Especially when you don’t do as well as you would expect, you can put a lot of pressure on yourself and feel like your team is depending on you. So I definitely feel like that’s been hard, but it’s also taught me that it’s okay to have hard days and they lead to really good days. Gender wise, I appreciate how inclusive my team is, we treat everyone the same so I’m really lucky I haven’t faced too many challenges in that aspect. 

Q: You mentioned that you mentor the underclassmen, what’s something you usually say to them to motivate them or get them inspired to stay motivated and upbeat? 

AL: Usually I tell them that they’re doing great, they’re doing awesome. We usually have rests after a certain amount of time, so I’m like, ‘you’ve already done this, that’s awesome, you can do this, I believe in you’. Some people like [me to be] harsh, like ‘tell me I need to go harder,’ and some people need you to be more gentle, so I think it depends on the rower, but I like to be uplifting to the new rowers.