Women's History Month Spotlight

In honor of Women's History Month, five seniors from various spring sports give their take on being a female athlete at Columbia, tell us who inspires them and how being a female athlete has shaped them.

The participants in today's Q&A are Anna Beshlian '20BC from the women's rowing team, Genny Soltesz '20SEAS from the softball team, Regan Steed '20CC from the lacrosse team, Sophia Strachan '20CC from the archery team and Brianna Williams '20CC from the women's tennis team.

What does being a female athlete at Columbia mean to you?

Anna Beshlian '20BC
"To me, being a female athlete at Columbia means actively choosing to tackle challenges head-on. It takes grit to be able to thrive in New York City, an extra edge to be an athlete here and a special type of tenacity to be a woman athlete here. I am so proud of how resilient my teammates are and how they have approached moments of adversity with integrity and selflessness. We have each other's backs and always will. Being a female athlete at Columbia also means being part of a team that extends far beyond my rowing community. I am overwhelmingly grateful to be part of a legacy of Columbia and Barnard women who pushed themselves and each other to be the best athletes and people that they can possibly be."

Genny Soltesz '20SEAS
"Being a female athlete at Columbia is an amazing and unique opportunity. I feel so fortunate to have been able to compete in my sport at the highest level for the past four years while also pursuing an elite education and living in New York City, which is a combination of things I would not have been able to do anywhere else. But perhaps the most special part of this experience is that as a female athlete here, I have been surrounded by so many strong, inspirational women on a daily basis and made connections I hope to keep for the rest of my life."

Regan Steed '20CC
"Being a female athlete at Columbia means so much to me. As a young girl, I admired Ivy League athletes for their hard work on and off the field. To be able to become a student-athlete at Columbia and inspire young girls in New York City and beyond has been an invaluable experience."

Sophia Strachan '20CC
"Archery isn't like most collegiate sports. Columbia has one of only a few varsity teams in the country and I never had the experience of playing on a high school team like most Columbia athletes. Columbia has given me this opportunity for the first time and it has become a far bigger part of my identity than I expected. Being an athlete has allowed for a really nice balance between school and sports because it gives me a structured time to devote to archery. I also have gotten to do some ridiculously cool things with my team – from watching horror movies before tournaments, to rappelling down waterfalls in Puerto Rico, to training trips in Cancun, to winning national championships – I just can't imagine college without the specific experiences that have made it so special."

Brianna Williams '20CC
"Being a female athlete at Columbia means having a second set of goals that are unlike many of our peers. Not only are we working as students to further our education, but we are also striving for success in an area that is mainly celebrated, but for mostly men in our skill level. It therefore requires a high level of effort, responsibility, and commitment that we strive for every day. We work towards achievements that not many other people think about, which has been a really enlightening experience for me."

What female or female athlete inspires you or is a role model and why?

Anna Beshlian '20BC
"Erin Cafaro. She was bow seat of the U.S. Women's 8+ that won gold in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. Cafaro rows with distinct finesse and races absolutely ruthlessly. I'm always actively trying to emulate her style. Long limbs and staggering height are advantageous features in rowing, and while all of her boat mates are at least 6-feet tall, Cafaro is only 5-9. She is quite literally an underdog – she definitively beat women who had several inches on her during the Olympic boat selection process. Those women certainly worked hard but Cafaro worked even harder. And she did it, and then she did it again four years later."

Genny Soltesz '20SEAS
"One role model who immediately comes to mind is Jessica Mendoza. As an athlete, she was one of the biggest names in softball for many years, and now she continues to be a strong advocate for women, particularly female athletes. She also continues to break barriers in the sports world with her work on Sunday Night Baseball and as an adviser with the New York Mets. Her drive and dedication, which have led to this trailblazing success, are an inspiration for female athletes everywhere."

Regan Steed '20CC
"A female athlete that inspires me is Moriah Jefferson, a current WNBA player for the Dallas Wings and former UConn point guard. I admire Moriah for her intensity, work ethic, selfless play and care for her teammates. Her ability to provide a spark and step up when her team needs it most is something I have always idolized."

Sophia Strachan '20CC
"I am inspired every day by my own teammates – by their achievements and their strength and their kindness. They have become some of my closest friends and we support each other through the good times and the bad times. There are countless female figures that are doing incredible things in the world and that I have looked up to throughout my life, but I am constantly reminded that I need only look as far as my own team to find inspiration."

Brianna Williams '20CC
"There are so many amazing female athletes competing professionally right now. All the athletes that have made it to this elite level of play inspire me to work harder at my own sport, since I know that there's even more to accomplish. One athlete that is particularly inspiring to me is Coco Gauff, who is a very successful professional tennis player. What makes her stand out to me is that she is only 16 years old, which is a very young age in our sport to achieve as much as she continues to. She demonstrates that anything is possible, which is important to keep in mind for all of us in a sport that is difficult to break into."

How has being a female athlete shaped you to become who you are today?

Anna Beshlian '20BC
"Being a female athlete and a rower will always be an integral part of my identity despite my collegiate career coming to an end. There's so much from the sport that I will take with me. One of my favorite illustrative instances is our coach always talking about what it means to "go to the line" with the women around us. Going to the line is the moment just before the flag drops to signal the start of the race. All of the boats are lined up, and all of us are sitting there wishing that we were anywhere else because we are familiar with the amount of pain and suffering that will transpire over the next six-and-a-half minutes. Going to the line has shaped my conception of what it means to be strong and what true commitment to myself and the women around me looks like. It takes courage to push myself to an almost unbearable physical and mental space. But I am willing to put myself there because I know I can trust all of the women around me to be brave and rise to the occasion, and they are counting on me to do the same."

Genny Soltesz '20SEAS
"There is so much that being a female athlete has taught me. Probably the single biggest thing I've learned from softball is how to be resilient in the face of failure; in a sport where you tend to fail more often than you succeed, it's so important to be able to objectively look back on failures and use them to learn and build without letting them hurt your confidence. Additionally, as an athlete, I've been on teams with so many different people that I've had to learn how to work with a wide variety of personalities and put aside individual wants for the sake of a common goal. The list of attributes I've developed from my time as an athlete goes on and on – accountability, discipline, and adaptability, to name a few more – to the point that it's nearly impossible to overstate the impact that being an athlete has had on me as a person."

Regan Steed '20CC
"Being a female athlete has taught me so many life lessons that have shaped who I am today. First, it has given me the mental strength, competitive spirit and confidence to succeed in the classroom and workforce. Secondly, it has taught me the importance of teamwork and communication. Lastly, it has taught me to not take baloney from anyone! There have been many people who have tried to knock me down throughout my sports career. Hard work and a good attitude has an amazing ability to prove people wrong."

Sophia Strachan '20CC
"Archery has been such a huge part of my life for so many years. It has taught me so much about patience, discipline and dedication. I'm sure my experiences in archery have shaped me more than I can even conceive because they have affected the way I think and carry myself in all aspects of life. Being specifically a female athlete is a slightly different story. I don't just want to be a good female archer, I want to be a good archer. Period. Men and women compete separately in archery, but there aren't the same obvious physical reasons that we should perform differently. Archery isn't about strength or height or speed – it's about focus, sensitivity, and repetition. Being a woman gives me the additional opportunity and goal of showing that women are just as capable of high performance as men."

Brianna Williams '20CC
"I attribute much of my character to being a female athlete, but the most significant thing that I have learned through athletics is personal responsibility. When you are competing, it's up to you to do everything you can to get what you want from the experience. Because to this, I value working hard even more, as well as being prepared for anything, and I focus on improving my skills every day."

Schedule

Players Mentioned

Anna Beshlian

Genny Soltesz

Regan Steed

Sophia Strachan

Brianna Williams

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