A Late Start

When teenagers get to high school, they already know their groups of friends. Then there are the others who are looking for a group to slide in on. It took me about two years to finally find mine. Two years seems like a long time but it was harder for me compared to other students. Most students met their friends though school sports and clubs, which many of them have been doing since middle school. It seemed that they already had their friends and it would be difficult for anyone else to feel accepted. All though I didn’t feel that team sports and clubs were the only way to find new friends, they certainly helped.

I came straight from a private to a public school after I graduated from eighth grade. This was a big leap for me because I had been at the same private school since I was in kindergarten. I didn’t really have that many friends while I was there, which was mainly the result of me going to a public high school. I decided to get away from that environment and try out a new one. Westerville North High School was the school in my district and the biggest one too. Getting dropped off my first morning was very intimidating. Immediately I was taken by the crowd and forced to go with the flow. It was hard to hear any sort of announcements over the hundreds of students. Very different compared to walking single file down the hallways quietly. The one thing I felt that was most strange was the fact that I didn’t have to wear the same uniform everyday.

Around the end of the school year I felt like I was fitting in with the crowd. I had a group of guys that I sat with at lunch and in some classes. Even though I was accepted, I didn’t feel like I was. Rarely did I go to my friends’ house to hang out or to the movies on Friday nights like everyone else. When I finally realized this I felt like I was back to square one again, that I was back at my private school.

The middle of my sophomore year, I started to hear about the Westerville Rowing Club or Crew for short. This was just talk I overheard in the lunchroom though. I became intrigued listening to all the talk and hype about it. I wondered why haven’t I heard about this club before, it had been in Westerville for almost 10 years apparently. I began noticing Crew t-shirts and jackets worn only on select days during the year, these days being the day before a race. This sounded like a good opportunity to get involved. I just didn’t know where to start.

It was winter quarter and the first snow finally fell. I assumed that the Crew season was over, and I was too late to join until the spring. There was little lunch talk and you rarely saw any Crew t-shirts or jackets being worn. It was almost like the sport was in hibernation. I started to trail away from my group of people little by little as the quarter went by. They started to dress different from when I met them; they dressed more punk and gothic. Also our music interests started to clash. These may not be very big issues, but that’s what mattered in social groups in high school. I stated to go straight to my classes instead of meeting with people to socialize.

One particular morning a blue and white flyer hanging up on the wall across from where I sit grabbed my attention. “Crew Conditioning” was the title in bold lettering. It was a flyer to try to recruit new rowers. I read that there was a time and place where they practice every night in the winter. Ironically they practice in the same spot I had been sitting waiting for class to start for the past couple weeks. I ripped the flyer down and studied it carefully so I wouldn’t miss anything. It said that the workouts will be on an ergometer or rowing machine. It also said to bring a water bottle and work out clothes, pretty simple. It also said “spandex shorts are highly encouraged.” After reading that sentence I didn’t know what to expect.

I arrived at the school about 20 minutes before practice. The school was empty and quiet, very different from what I have been used to. I started walking to the location on the flyer. I started to hear loud music coming from what sounded to be a large stereo. Along with the music I heard a different, unfamiliar noise. This sounded like metal chains being zipped back and forth. I assumed those were the ergometers. Once I got to the hallway and turned the corner, there were about 150 people exercising. I was amazed to see that many of the rowers were in my classes and at lunch right next to me. I met the head coach moments later. He was a tall and lanky individual in his late forties. He rushed over with a very positive attitude and reached out to shake my hand. He shook with both hands making my arm whip up and down uncontrollably. His attitude rubbed off in a way showing that he had great pride in his club. After greeting me he brought me over with the other beginners. Once everyone seemed to be there the coach clapped his hands together and said “let’s get started.”

Everyone works in different ways. To some people, making friends is not an easy task, for others it is much easier. Personally I would call this my beginning to who I am today. This club gave me the strength and courage to become an individual. I still don’t believe that team sports and clubs are the only way to meet people and make friends; they are only the starting point for an individual. They are responsible for how we are shaped, thus making it possible for teammates to become one. Though finding your desired group is not an easy task but it is certainly worth the hard work in the end.