IRA Blog by Alicia Kapjian-Pitt
Episode 2
“I don’t know about you, I’m feeling 22.” – This was how my roommate, Taylor Harris, greeted me this morning, blasting Taylor Swift. We proceeded to jump around the room and act like we were actually two.
When I got to our classy Suburban, Jackie Huddle bestowed upon me a replica of the goggles that the Despicable Me minions wear as a Birthday present. She also handed me a card from the team. I was overcome with gratitude reading all the messages from teammates. After receiving my birthday greeting we piled into the cars and headed to Princeton’s boathouse.
Being a true California girl I am always struck by how lush and green New Jersey is. Each year we have been here I have had the same thought that usually begins with me telling myself that I would have liked to go to school out here. The spring beauty and warm weather combo really appeal to my warm California blood. This thought bubble generally leads me to the same realization, which at this point shouldn’t even be called a realization anymore as I have “realized” this too many times by now, that I would have to endure the cold east coast winters, namely snow. I do not do well in the snow and being the Californian that I am, the most extreme weather conditions I deal with are infrequent downpours and an abundance of fog. Suffice to say it is really beautiful out here at the moment, “at the moment” being the key phrase.
We got to the boathouse and began to rig the boats to ready them to row. I have always considered this task to be my “unspecialty.” The large amount of people in a small space all trying to do the same thing overwhelms me. Luckily I got past it and the boats were ready. Unfortunately the launches our coaches were to be using were not.
So what does our team do when we are faced with an extended period of free time? No, the answer is not study. (Although several people could be heard wishing for the accompaniment of their books.) So we gathered in a circle and played an intellectually stimulating game of Convergence. I will never fully understand the rules of this game but from what I do understand: two people start out with two completely separate words and end up making their way to the same word, with different pairings of people simultaneously and independently shouting out words related to the pairing that came before them. The goal is to end up with the same word. Have I said I am bad at explaining things yet? A couple of lively rounds later and it was finally time to row.
After feeling the windy conditions during our morning row, we all knew what the afternoon would have in store for us and we were not let down. Blistering tailwinds sent us sailing in one direction while a raging headwind made the other direction go on for eons. When all the work was said and done, Derek informed me that I would have to row 22 circles before heading in to mimic the five circles his son walked around the sun for his birthday the other day at his school. For my sake, and actually for everybody’s sake, he was being facetious. The row came to a close and we trooped back to our hotel, finally ready to rinse of the day and watch some Warrior basketball.
Day two of Jersey training begins tomorrow and while May 26 is significantly less exciting than May 25, we are all excited to continue on the road to IRA’s. We are also particularly excited to be taking over the GoStanford Snapchat for the day! Follow @GoStanford on Snapchat because a picture is worth a thousand words and I’m pretty sure I’ve reached my limit.