Growing up as a first generation American in a small midwest town, I felt out of place. My first language was Romanian, and I didn't know how to play Football.

What I did have was family. My grandparents and my mom raised me. From early on, I understood that community is everything, and that the quality of my relationships would determine the quality of my life.

When I discovered rowing in high school, it was the first time I felt like I belonged somewhere outside of home. The discipline, the team culture, the competition. I became consumed by it.

I figured out who the top team in the country was, called the freshman coach and asked what I needed to do to get there. I spent the next 3 years seeking out mentorship, completing training plans, and eventually got recruited.

Slowest guy on the team

I showed up to UW and was the slowest guy on the roster. That wasn't surprising, these guys had been training at top high school programs and many had former olympians as parents. Some of them were junior world champions.

During my freshman year, I trained hard, seat raced those world champions, and took one of their seats. I earned a spot in the coveted freshman 8, a boat that only 8 of the 24 freshmen could make. We beat Cal, and won a PAC-12 championship.

Our coach was a recent Olympian, and training under him was an incredible experience.

Why I stopped

The truth is, I had joined rowing to make friends and find my community. And I did. To me, the best team in the country meant the best friends in the country. Once I made those friends, the sport had done its job.

I waas also dealing with several fractured ribs and muscle spasms in my back from the training volume.

These two things meant my erg scores were not up to par by Junior year. The head coach saw it, sat me down, and cut me.

He was right. My heart wasn't in it anymore, I didn't have ambitions to go to the Olympics, and since our head coach is the USA olympic rowing coach, a spot on that team should go to someone who does.