I’m Caitlyn, I’m originally from Penicuik (between Edinburgh and the borders) and I chose to come to Dundee University because it was one of the only universities running my course. I also just enjoyed the atmosphere and how close everything was.
I’m a third year Forensic Anthropology student. In this course I spend about six hours per week in the dissection rooms, at least four hours in online classes, and many more studying and prepping at home.
As well as boat club, I’m involved in the AHID society and am a member of their committee - a ball convenor (fancy term for arranging a large dinner/ceilidh/party) and am a member of the bands society which puts you in contact with other musicians to enable you to form a band together and perform at a showcase.
I learned to row here at DUBC in my first year of uni and fell in love with the sport immediately. It’s been a great way of staying fit and making myself take breaks from course work and I’ve made some amazing friends through the club that I wouldn’t have met otherwise. I also enjoy coxing and encouraging other club members on and seeing how they’ve developed as rowers too.
Within DUBC, I sit on committee as PR Convenor and on some of the subcommittees (PR, Welfare, Coxing, Alumni relations, Fundraising).
As PR Convenor I’m in charge of the regular content generation and posting across all of our social media as well as organising or running of any campaigns we have going on, either independently or alongside another member. Some of the recent campaigns I’ve had significant involvement in are the ‘Winter Wellbeing’ and ‘What’s Rowing on in Your Head?’ campaigns alongside Thomas Nelson, some that overlap with fundraisers, such as Movember and the (almost) Ergathon. For an odd full circle moment, this ‘Made of More’ campaign is one I’ve come up with too.
I wanted to emphasise that the thing that really makes the club is the members and to highlight them as individuals. I am deeply proud of my personal progression in the club in learning to sweep and scull and consistently achieving PBs, but I really love helping develop the club and show off how much fun it is and how well our members do.
I think I find PR so enjoyable because there are a lot of different aspects to the job, and what I do strongly shapes the image that people outwith the club have of us. I love promoting the club and how wonderful it is, because I love the club - it’s something that makes my job easier, as you can tell by this article and the others in the series, it's easy to talk about something you love.
In the occasional free time I find I like to be quite creative, I enjoy drawing, painting, knitting, sewing - basically any craft I can find time for or get my hands on. I’ve also got a few instruments in Dundee with me so get some practice in with those. My degree is pretty full on so I do spend a lot of time on coursework and revising, but always try to make time to meet up with friends and do something, whether it's an afternoon cafe trip, a quick pub visit or a movie night.
Rowing helps me balance my busy life as it gives a regular structure to fit into my day. This also helps keep me on task with uni work because having those slots of time blocked out means there isn’t time for procrastination. It’s also a great outlet for stress, whether it's by sweating it out on the rowing machine, or how peaceful it is to be on the river, it really helps with relaxation. PR has also helped me in my personal life a lot, my communication always has to be clear and I have to be confident and believe in what I’m putting out, which are some traits that I use every day.
I came up with this whole campaign with the concept of the members being the thing that makes the club, and decided to ask the final question of ‘this series is DUBC - Made of More, how do you think this is true, what makes this more than just a rowing club?’. The more I reflect on this, the more I realise this isn’t a simple question, at first it seemed obvious to me because I ask that question whenever I come up with new content or a feature concept, or think about my friends or how many memories I’ve made here.
To me, DUBC is more than a rowing club because, much as we row, we do so much more and are so much more. We’re a rowing club, and a social group, and a support system, but most of all to me, we’re a family. We’ve developed such a strong bond as a group and such a distinctive group/team spirit, and I can see that it just keeps getting passed on as more people join and others leave. That’s what makes DUBC more.