Senior Spotlight: JACKSON LIFFORD
Hometown: Boston, MA
Major: Psychology
Minor: Legal Studies
Port or Starboard: Port
Favorite seat in the boat: Stroke
What did you do in high school? How and why did you join Northwestern Crew?
Well, I rowed in high school so that made me want to row at Northwestern. I just kind of love the sport regardless of where I ended up.
What’s your favorite memory from being on the team?
I would say my favorite memory is probably the winter before COVID. We had such an awesome atmosphere and group of people. It was pretty special to all be pushing that hard for a goal even though it didn't end up coming.
What’s your favorite part of regattas?
It's obviously the racing. It's so fun, especially sprint season, to line up for a race and you're kind of stressed, and you're just sitting there waiting for it to start. You’ve got a ton of raw energy just bumbling around and then the race starts and everything kind of instantly, all the worry and everything, just turns off and it's go mode.
Do you have a favorite regatta memory?
It would probably be MACRA of 2019. We had a really good row even though we hadn't really gotten to practice together. So we were really working with whatever we had off of natural chemistry and raw effort. We fell just short of medals, but it was one of those races where you literally couldn't find an ounce of effort that anyone in the boat could have given more of. So you have to kind of appreciate that and accept the result.
What’s been the most rewarding part of crew for you?
I think it's easily the people and the friendships. It's just the nature of the sport that you're just really going into hell a lot of the time. So the people that you're consistently doing that with and pushing yourself with, you just end up getting close to them. I would say it's definitely the people.
As one of the few people on the team that came into the team knowing that I wanted to row, it's been really awesome through the years seeing people who had no idea what they were doing and had never touched an oar. Over the years, I can just see them get more bought in and more committed. It just becomes a larger part of their life, and that's just been really cool to see.
What has crew taught you?
I would say it's very much taught me the value of delayed gratification. Just really plugging away at something for a while and having it really suck, and there's no real instant of “that's awesome.” Having it pay off way down the line just feels so stupidly rewarding.
How do you stay motivated and how are you currently staying motivated?
I think it's pretty easy to stay motivated as a senior because it’s your last chance. You gotta see what you can do. I would also just say in general, I've never forgotten that, yes, the sport’s really hard, and it's really competitive, but also at the end of the day, I'm still doing it because I love it. I think that helps, especially when you're doing these grueling workouts or it’s the year of COVID and you know you're not going to race for nine months.
What will you miss the most?
It's definitely gonna be having a team. I feel like that's a really special thing that's really hard to find again later. Even if you keep rowing, it's just really hard to find the same competitive atmosphere with a group of people your age, so I'm definitely gonna miss that a lot. I just like having a squad around you.