Rowing and Studying in the USA

After five years at St. Edward’s, a gap year rowing at Oxford and then 3 years ‘studying’ at a renowned rowing university, I felt the need for a change going into my last year (I had changed courses after my first year hence the extended stay!). On making a few enquiries it transpired that exchanges were available to other universities in various locations around the world. Australia, New Zealand and Canada were all on offer but having lost in the Temple to Princeton, Yale and Harvard in successive years, I felt New England was the place to go as clearly these colleges were doing something we weren’t, or at least that’s how I saw it at the time. So I did the paper work, got the VISA sorted, packed my bags and flew out to the east coast of America for the beginning of the ‘Fall Semester’ 2001.

Three things surprised me in the first week there. Firstly I discovered the campus was ‘dry’, secondly I realised we HAD to attend all our lectures and thirdly I saw more sunrises in my first week there than I had thus far in my entire life. These three things rather sum up my entire experience studying in the States and the ‘cultural’ differences between the USA and the UK. I will deal with them in that order.

The dry campus was a bit of a shock after the lively nights out in my university town I had been having since I was 18. Being over 21 though I was allowed either a 6 pack of beers in my room, or, wait for it….a bottle of spirits! Given how disgusting most cheap American beers are and how spirits don’t agree with me, I ended up plumping for neither, instead going to the off campus parties every weekend. The full attendance of lectures was a big shock and an equally big reversal as the dry campus was. It was no bad thing and there is no doubt I learned more in one term in the US than in my entire time at my uni in the UK though there was one amusing day where I ended up giving the lecture on the makeup of the British Isles as the poor lecturer got it so horribly wrong that I couldn’t resist piping up and he let me take the stage. My point here about the drinking and attendance of lectures is that there is quite a cultural difference between the UK and USA. The jump between school and university in the UK can be huge and you really do get thrown in the deep end. In the USA I felt that there was a smoother transition and initially university was an extension of school but as you progress through the years you are prepared for life in the outside world rather than just thrown into it. I am not saying either is right or wrong, just that there was a noticeable difference to me. I also noticed this when I ended up coaching out there a year later (that’ll be covered in part 2).

The rowing front was not entirely what I had hoped as when we did a 6km test on the first day, after I finished, horribly unfit after a summer of excess, looked around and realised everyone else was still going, the coach came up to me and asked what side I rowed. Still lying on the floor feeling like death I indicated ‘bowside’. Ten minutes later when my legs decided to work again I went downstairs to find him re-rigging the boat to be stroked from ‘starboard’ rather than ‘port’! The following morning at sunrise, I stroked an 8 for the first time since school. I realised the difference between the US and UK was larger than I thought, and there was still lots they had to work on.

Early starts, lack of beers and full attendance of lectures aside, I enjoyed my time in New England hugely. I managed to sneak in a row at Brown with a chap I had raced against the summer before, got out in the launch with the famous Harry Parker, competed in the Head of the Charles and even won two races at the Head of the Fish where you actually get a mounted fish head as your trophy! On top of that I made friends for life, learned all manner of things in class that are still with me today and ended up getting a job out of it the following year when I graduated, (which I will talk about in Part 2). My summary though, and to the dozens of school leavers I have chatted with in the 20 years since is; studying and rowing in the USA won’t be for everyone but I would strongly encourage those curious to seriously look into it. 

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Ben Lewis

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