All I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned in the Boathouse (with apologies to Robert Fulghum). Most of what I really need to know about how to live, and what to do, and how to be, I learned in the boathouse. Wisdom was not found in the stacks of Widener library, or in the classrooms of Harvard Hall, but there on the docks of Weld. These are the things I learned: Try everything. Be fair. Don’t tell someone something when you can show them instead. Work hard. If something goes wrong, work harder. Listen to the older athletes. Help the younger athletes. Be coachable. Bigger isn’t always better. Offer new ideas. Be creative. Laugh. Get enough sleep. Eat the right foods. Get your school work done. Keep your locker clean. Wear a warm hat in the winter so your hair won’t freeze. Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody. Laugh more. Keep your socks dry. Recognize and harness the strength of others. Learn together and think together and eat together and play together every day. Remember your responsibility to the women who come up behind you. When you go out in the world together, you are bigger than everyone else. Step softly but show your resolve. Remember the little people; they may be the ones who get you through the last 500. You may not always be able to see where you are going, but you can learn from where you’ve been. Trust your teammates. Include everyone. Ask for other’s opinion. Inspire. Do the right thing. Decide. Try not to worry about what other people think. Say “thank you.” Try. Try. Try again. Try a different way. Try something new. Try harder. Try another angle. Try again and again and again. Enjoy all that Mother Nature offers up. Thrive on crisp autumn evenings and late spring blizzards. Notice the reflection of the sunset in the Hancock tower. Be thankful for calm water and tailwinds. Be aware of wonder. Think of what a better world it would be if we all – the whole world – got up early to exercise, ate three balanced meals a day, and enjoyed eight hours of sleep every night. Or if we had a basic policy in our nation and in other nations that made everyone put aside their differences and pull together to achieve a common goal. And it is still true, no matter how old you are, that eight heads, and hearts, are better than one.