ANGIE LEVINE Laurel Turbin,
Delia Lucas and Jamila Hammad
(l-r), members of the women’s rowing team, prepare for a great
season this year.
By Jackie Abellada
Daily Bruin Contributor
Some students have trouble even maintaining a sub-par
performance in their classes alone, much less juggling an athletic
career on top of that. Imagine doing that everyday before the sun
even gleams over the horizon.
The newly sanctioned women’s rowing squad is considered a
minority in the collegiate athletic world. Few teams boast several
athletes who can successfully balance both an athletic life with an
academic one, specifically one that focuses on the highly
competitive science fields.
But to these women, it’s nothing new.
There’s a microbiology student, also majoring in German,
soon-to-be commissioned as a second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air
Force.
There’s a fifth-year double major in physiological science
and mathematics/applied science with a specialization in computing
who wishes to become a biomedical engineer.
There’s a psychobiology student who at this moment plans
to become a psychiatrist.
And there’s also a current physiological science student
who will one day help the ill infants of the world by becoming a
neonatologist.
“The unique part of being an athlete who’s pursuing
a career in the sciences is that you need to learn how to put 110
percent into what you’re doing at that precise moment,”
said Jamila Hammad, the third-year prospective lieutenant.
“That’s where learning how to manage your time and
focus become crucial aspects of succeeding.”
This juggling act has almost become second nature to these women
whose typical work day is quite demanding to say the least.
Wake at 5:45 a.m. By six, they’re paddling against the
cold waters of Marina del Rey. They endure the pain of practice
until 8:15 a.m. After, they quickly rush off, hopefully missing the
dreaded I-405 traffic, to barely make it to class on time.
This is considered their “free time,” when they have
the opportunity to either attend class, study or take a quick nap
before another hour to hour and a half of training and
conditioning.
This schedule has become all too familiar to Delia Lucas, the
future biomedical engineer, who has been able to somewhat
successfully balance her multifaceted life for the past four
years.
“Most of us pick our majors and then have to work rowing
around that because we know what we want to do,” Lucas
said.
Ironically, the main lesson these women have learned throughout
the years has also been one of their biggest obstacles: time
management.
“I like to say that school is first priority because that
is the most important thing, but sometimes it’s just not the
case,” said Laurel Turbin, the hopeful psychiatrist.
“We have to get to mandatory workouts, which basically takes
up four hours a day, and school is like reading you’re
supposed to be doing every night.”
With such a hectic schedule, it is surprising that these women
even have enough time to eat and rest. Needless to say, the lack of
sleep has taken quite a toll on the squad.
“It really affects the team dynamics a lot because
we’re in bad moods most mornings and we’ll take it out
on each other sometimes,” Turbin said. “Overall, we
really love each other and we really want to work together but
it’s just hard when we’re always tired and stressed out
about school.”
But all in all, these women have made it through the sleepy and
hurried mornings to push their careers and studies to the
limits.
According to Ashley Eidmann, the fourth-year future
neonatologist, the women’s crew team can now show the world
that they can succeed both academically and athletically.