For this week’s edition of Humans of Ryerson, we’re highlighting women on Ryerson’s women’s dragon boat team. They will be going to the 2018 Canadian Dragon Boat Championships in Welland on June 29 to July 1.
We asked them what their favourite memory from their dragon boat experience has been so far. Here’s what they said.
Jessica Tam, fourth-year, Graphic Communications Management
Photo by Janine Maral Tascioglu
“Knowing that we worked and trained as hard as we could towards the results that we got. I’ve gotten a couple of medals and I’m not athletic at all so it’s an accomplishment for me.”
Mirand Diez, second-year, Professional Communications
Photo by Janine Maral Tascioglu
“Our crew last year, we won our division and beat out the other Ryerson crews – it was our boat that won and we got a gold medal so it was a lot of fun. All of the hard work paid off. When you’re on the boat, you’re supposed to be focused and not looking at other boats but I’m at the back as a rocket and you can kind of see what the other boats are doing and I didn’t think we won the last race but apparently we did well enough in the other races to get us first place. That was pretty exciting.”
Olivia Nashmi, fourth-year, Radio Television Arts
Photo by Janine Maral Tascioglu
“In my first year, there was this really bad practice when we had a professional coach come and coach us. There was a tornado warning and we were waiting for the rain to stop. The coach stopped early and he told us, “I want everyone to reflect on why they joined dragon boat.” Everyone reflected and shared what they hoped to get out of dragon boat. We all ended up crying.”
Nicole, fifth-year, Business Technology Management
Photo by Janine Maral Tascioglu
“I think my favourite memories come from going to Toronto Islands – our biggest competition in the year. Every year it’s so much fun and just being with friends and the team is like family.”
Janine Maral is lifestyle photographer and culture writer with interests in sustainable fashion and linguistics. When Janine’s not writing, she’s planning her next trip, listening to a podcast, or making guacamole. You can follow her travels @JanineMaral.
