Sag: How has joining crew affected your life?

Cummiskey: When I’m doing crew, I’m much more focused on actually doing my schoolwork because I have less time to do it, so I don’t procrastinate. I like feeling like I’m fit, like I’m active. I think it makes me less jumpy during the day because I already had a work out.

Sag: Do you think crew has affected your mentality?

Cummiskey: Yeah, I think it makes me feel as if I can work hard and succeed. It’s all about if I want to put the work in—coaches are always like, “Crew is a direct correlation between how much work you put in and how much you’re going to succeed.” I think that that carries over to my life, where I’m like, “If I really want to do well on this thing, I just have to put the time in.”

Sag: How are your relationships with your teammates?

Cummiskey: I think you get really close with everyone on your team. I feel like we all think that we’re all in this together, and when it’s great, it’s all great together, and when it’s bad, I think everyone feels like we’re here together and we can get through it. I think you really rely on your teammates because everyone else is going through the same thing you’re going through.

Sag: What do you personally bring to the team?

Cummiskey: I think that I am positive and that’s good, especially because sometimes our team, like any sport, has a tendency to become negative. I work really, really hard, or at least I like to think that I work really hard. I think that having someone who does that on the team makes sure that other people on the team do it too. If the culture of the team is wanting to work to succeed and putting in the effort and not just doing it because you have to, then I think that the whole team functions well.

Sasha Saias can be contacted at [email protected].