It all started in the fall of 2016

Michaela

It all started in the fall of 2016.

I set foot on Ohio State University’s main campus in the fall of 2016. Being the curious person I am, I went to the activities and club fair with my friends even though I was a junior level student.
 
Amongst the hum of students laughing and cheering and having a good time, I was singled out. I was approached by one of the women’s rowing coaches. She told me that I was tall and overall looked like a rower. She explained what the novice rowing team was and that I should consider joining.
At that time I was far too interested in just getting settled in the big city of Columbus after transitioning from the Agriculture Technical Institute in Wooster. My focus was on my agricultural communication classes and activities. For my junior year I was content with doing just that.
 

But, I was continually stopped by people that year. A couple times by the same novice coach as I entered or exited the gym. Many people that year asked if I was a college athlete or what sport I played in college. I just flat out didn’t believe people that I looked like an athlete so I shrugged it off.

Why were people telling me I looked like an athlete? I was a tall, clumsy small town girl that quit playing high school soccer to be involved in FFA. It just didn’t make sense.

Then I started to feel God pushing me to believe them. The summer of 2017 I decided to put a stop to all the questions and comments.
 

I told myself I was an athlete and that I would be on ANW some day. I started by practicing hand stands and going to the Scioto Audubon in Columbus. It had an obstacle course for big kids with tires to flip, a balance beam, monkeys bars and so much more! At this point I was convinced I was training to be on American Ninja Warrior, not the OSU Novice Rowing team. (I did and still do have a major obsession with ANW.)

A few weeks before school in the fall of 2017, I met with the novice rowing coach to see if being on the team would even be feasible since I was going to be a senior student. The objective of the novice rowing program is to teach mainly freshman and sophomore women how to row so they can join the varsity team. It didn’t seem to be an issue at the time but later on in the journey it did give me a scare.

Where can you listen to God’s gently nudging in your own life?

Next week I’ll be sharing about what came next – recruiting meeting and GRIT day.
 
As always, Stay Adventurous!

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