Pavla Ilieva '21 Recruiting Profile

I am extremely ambitious and passionate when it comes to achieving my goals - fighting for success has always been my priority in life. Living in a small country with less opportunities has made me very disciplined and adaptable. Besides, I am bilingual with great creativity and strong visualization skills. I am a critical thinker and intense about mathematics. Moreover, I am interested in studying “Applied Mathematics”.

I grew up in Bulgaria, Europe where I made my commitment to rowing, spending 3 years of hard work and competing. As a result I ended up 5 times National Champion with 12 medals and much experience behind my back.

Moving to the United States at the age of 15 had a huge impact on my life. I did not have the opportunity to row at the time because the miserable setting around me kept pulling me back, keeping me busy with working, surviving and adapting to this new, unknown country.

I did not give up following my dream of becoming a professional rower and in my junior year of high school I was able to come back to rowing. Joining the closest rowing club with no hesitation (which is only an hour and a half away from my school) brought back my hope of becoming a successful athlete. So far, in the United States I have participated in the Head of the Hooch Regatta and the Regatta in Augusta.

Subsequently, as Covid 19 crisis happened, I lost the opportunity to be a part of a team and to have a coach by my side. Therefore this motivated me to invest in equipping my home with a rowing machine and other workout equipment so I could stay in shape during quarantine. Since then, I have been self-training myself in order to improve my 2k results.