University of North Carolina Athletics
Senior Spotlight: Whitney Hileman
May 21, 2009 | Women's Rowing
May 21, 2009
How and when did you start rowing and what made you want to get involved with the sport? Do you have plans to continue rowing after college?
Whitney Hileman: Honestly, I started rowing in the fall of my sophomore year here at Carolina because a friend of mine (now teammate), Eugenia, told me that I would get free sunglasses. Once I made the novice program I got addicted to the competition and the idea of building a program from scratch. I also was not very good at rowing and that made me angry. I wanted to be able to change myself and a program at the same time.
I will most likely be rowing after college but I have not decided what level.
What has been the highlight of your UNC rowing career?
Hileman: It is amazing to be the fastest team in Carolina history as a senior. It was wonderful coming in 4th at ACCs last year but this year's crew has amazing talent and speed that has been an honor to be a part of.
What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about the sport of rowing?
Hileman: There are so many misconceptions about rowing. It isn't about our arm strength. It is not easy. We are not graceful. The best rowers are not built like football players. We don't always have to get up super early in the morning. The coxswains don't repeatedly yell "stroke!" There are so many it is silly.
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What's the most valuable lesson you'll take away from having been a member of the UNC rowing team?
Hileman: Rowing has an amazing relationship between the amount of work you put in and what you get out of it. In other sports amazing talent or natural speed or height will get you almost everything and don't get me wrong those things do help rowers out too but rowing is all about work. The harder I've worked the more success I have received regardless of my height (or lack of), talent (or lack of), and natural speed (or lack of).
Also, rowing hurts. My novice coach used to say, "Your body lies to you." Meaning that even though I was hurting more than I could have ever imagined before rowing I could get through it. I could always go harder, all I had to do was decide I wanted it bad enough.
What will you miss most about being a part of the UNC team? Miss least?
Hileman: I will miss the competition. My teammates and I could compete over anything. Literally we were taking cap and gown pictures and we were competing over who could jump higher in the pictures. We compete on the water, on the erg, and at the dinner table. When I leave UNC rowing, that will no longer be acceptable and I am going to hate that.
There are a lot of unlikable things about being an athlete at UNC but honestly all that I have lost has been more than worth it and I gladly would give it up again.
What has been the hardest thing about being a collegiate student-athlete? What has been the most rewarding thing?
Hileman: The hardest part about being a UNC athlete occurs when we fail. UNC athletics carries a heavy weight. You are wearing the same color as Michael Jordan and Mia Hamm. When we lost, I always felt like I was failing every person who ever loved UNC ... that is a lot of people.
That is also the most rewarding part about being an athlete at UNC. I am privileged enough to wear that same color. I lettered at a school that boasts tons of Olympians, Nobel Prize winners, Pulitzer winners, even a president went here. Every day I get to represent those people is an honor.
What are your post-graduation plans? What do you hope to be doing in five years?
Hileman: I received a teaching fellowship in Philadelphia so in September I will be teaching Special Ed. High School Social Studies at an inner city school while attending grad school and hopefully coaching. In five years, I hope to be doing the same thing but closer to some ski slopes.
What has been your favorite class at Carolina and why did you like it?
Hileman: History of Iraq was my best class at UNC because the professor did an amazing job of allowing us to learn what we wanted to. It was the first semester of the class and she had no idea what part of Iraq's massive history to include in the class. History is merely the opinion of the presenter and she wanted to make sure we saw all opinions of the history not just hers.
What is your favorite memory of your time as a Carolina student?
Hileman: My freshman year when our men's basketball team, starting three freshmen, beat Duke, starting a bunch of seniors, at K's court on their senior night. When I got to Franklin Street I finally got what it meant to be part of such a huge community of fans.
What have you enjoyed most about being a student at UNC? If you were giving one piece of advice to a freshman starting college in the fall, what would you say?
Hileman: I enjoyed being able to grow up in this atmosphere. UNC is fun and hard at the same time. I was laughing and being challenged at every turn. My four years here have been filled with every emotion but in the end it was the best time of my life.
I know every senior is probably going to say this and I know every single person I talked to coming to college told me this but ... ENJOY THIS. IT GOES BY TOO FAST!
