The following is a paper Aaron wrote for a high school writing assignment. Aaron is one of our long-time youth rowing members, who has been with us since our first year of youth rowing in Westport when he was a freshman. He continues to row with us to this day and completed the row from Westport to Cape Cod last summer.

Dharma Voyage

Of all the awards in rowing that I received, the Dharma Voyage medal is the one I value the most. This medal is inscribed with the words “Dharma Voyage, which is the name of the rowing club that my rowing coach started in Westport, Massachusetts with the Westport High school. Also inscribed is a rowing dory similar to the dory that my team and I built and rowed with Ben Booth, my coach, in 2015. Around the edge is a burnt-in rope pattern symbolizing ropes used at sea. This medal represents the beginning of my rowing career and, more importantly, my development as a person. During the course of the next 6 years, I strengthened skills in communication, patience, and perseverance, and I’ve built lasting friendships.  

The medal was given to me by my coach Ben, after my first year of rowing with him. About 5 years ago a friend told me about a rowing program starting up at my school. From the first time I got in the boat, I knew this was something I wanted to do. I found it physically demanding, especially on my back, but I stayed with it because it was the only sport I found interesting. I loved gliding on the smooth water and being part of something important. I had been on sports teams before, but I always hated it because it didn’t seem like a skill set I wanted to learn. This felt different. When I played basketball there was always the pressure to perform and do well in front of people. In rowing, however, my coach always put the importance on teamwork, communication, and learning, not individual performance. My first race was in Vermont. We didn’t do very well, but we were still learning how to communicate with each other in the boat. I did learn how to be patient with members of the team who were not making the best effort.  

Our second race, called The Head of the Weir, was in Hull, Massachusetts. We ended up winning for our division, then they called our team up and gave us each a painted quahog shell for a trophy. The year after that we did the race again, this time with our coach rowing with us. We won our division then as well. We had all learned how to work better as a team. Years later, I had a great opportunity that increased both my personal skills and my rowing skills. This summer without much notice I suddenly found myself on an island in Maine with a group of strangers getting ready for an international rowing and sailing competition called Atlantic Challenge to take place in Northern Ireland. I heard about this opportunity from a late notice in our local newspaper, the Westport Shorelines. There was a rush of emails to see if I was actually accepted into the program or not, as the group had already bought tickets to Northern Ireland. When I was finally accepted, I had a little over a week to gather equipment for this trip and travel to Rockport, Maine. I was very nervous when I first got there but then I was engaged in icebreaker games with the people who would be my team.

Dharma Voyage is how I started my own voyage into the sport of rowing. Without being introduced to rowing, I would be missing out on the teamwork, lifelong friendships, and amazing opportunities that make me who I am today. I am a better person because of rowing, and rowing has become a part of who I am.

[editor’s note: Atlantic Challenge is an international sailing-rowing-seamanship challenge for young people that focuses on teamwork and community building. It was quite a thing for Aaron to jump at this opportunity and be admitted onto the team! At the event, amongst other awards, Aaron was most proud of his team winning the Spirit of the Atlantic Challenge award, which is voted on by participants themselves for a crew that exemplifies the spirit of the event]