What I Couldn't Tell You for A Year | Being a D1 Athlete 

Re-watching this after your recent video and I can just understand so much more what you’re going through. So glad you never gave up and you were able to become healthier and stronger, truly an inspiration 💕 been watching you since your week in my life outfit videos when you only wore brandy Melville, Abercrombie and uggs in high school! Hahaha love seeing how much you’ve grown!

I'm actually a D1 rower myself, and I respect this so much. I have been struggling with this decision myself and hearing it from someone else going through the same thing is extremely helpful. you have all of our support through this difficult decision!

We all support you either way. Whether you are rowing or aren't. As your subscribers we love you no matter what your doing. It's awesome that you are strong enough in your values and personal life that you can make a decision like this. Being a D1 athlete is an amazing experience/opportunity but so is being a RU-vidr. I'm so proud of you Gretchen. Love ya and keep doing what you are doing.

Following your heart and instincts is never a mistake! Props to you seriously these types of decisions are hard, but it's amazing that you made the decision for you and no one else! We are the same age and I'm like so proud of you haha good for you Gretchen! I'm happy that you are happy!

Time management is such a struggle in college. Takes real maturity to pick your priorities

I can't help but feel bad that you gave up rowing for RU-vid:( love you Gretchen

It's so amazing how Gretchen was able to keep up with school work, youtube and rowing! I'm 3 weeks into my freshman year in college and I'm still so overwhelmed with the school work! Gretchen definitely inspires me to work harder though, she was able to juggle three things at once! Thank you for always being honest with us Gretchen, we love you!

YESSSS, I have been waiting for this!!! Even though I know this was hard for you, I'm so proud of you for making this decision. Can't wait to see what you do this year with your RU-vid!! :)

I respect this decision a lot. I'm a third year at northeastern and had to make the decision not to swim on the women's team. It's a heartbreaking choice and I think you're really brave. I hope I get to meet you some day!

Gretchen, I'm really proud of you for making this decision. I'm a people pleaser too and I know how hard it can be to make decisions that people might not agree with. In the end, your happiness is the most important. I hope you have a great year!

Gretchen, I know what your going through. I recently quit field hockey because I knew I had to focus on other things. You are amazing and beautiful and I look up to you. You are following your dream and no one should be mad at you for doing that. I love you and keep doing you!💜

Honestly, mad respect for you and your ability to make this decision. You're a beautiful role model and handled this situation with the utmost grace. Hopefully, the NCAA will see this and comprehend the impact of their outdated rules. Love and admire you. xo

You are the main reason why I started rowing this year and I'm so happy you can finally talk about it!!!! It makes me so happy that you followed your heart to continue RU-vid. But thanks to you I found a new passion and I'm already on my clubs varsity team! I love you so much thank you!

Thank you for this video, I know I'm not in the same exact situation as you but our feelings were very similar. I quit basketball my senior year of high school after being a four year varsity starter because it made me so unhappy. I would cry overnight after practice or games whether I did good or bad. I grew up on a traveling team that was very respected and taught me so many lessons on how a team and life should be ran and what I had in high school was no where near that. I had so many people come up to me at school, the mall, at other games and tell me that I would regret my decision and that I was letting my talent and hard work go to waste. These people had no idea who I was and had no idea what my parents had to deal with every night when I broke down. I loved that you chose to make yourself happy and stay true to yourself because finally I feel that I'm not alone for choosing to quit to make myself happy. Lately I have been wondering if I made the right decision and this completely reminded me that I have. Thank you for this Gretchen, I don't think this could have come at a more perfect time. Love you so much!!!

I have so much respect for you! You're a great role model and it's so clear that you are an amazing human. Thanks for doing what you do! 😊

I'm sure this was a super hard decision, but I'm glad that you put your happiness first! Not many people have the courage to do that

So proud of you for making such a huge decision Gretchen! I just transferred to a different college and that was a hard decision to make but I'm so happy that I made it. I'm saying that because I know what it feels like to struggle with whether a decision you made was right or wrong. Can't believe we're both sophomores in college now and the same age, it's so cool to see fellow youtubers going to college!

Aw Gretchen! We're all here to support you! Don't think about that this could be a bad decision, think about the opportunities that could be opened up for you.

Gretchen I have so much respect for you after this video. I applaud you for considering your subscribers throughout this whole process. Your health and happiness are what matter most at the end of the day. We, as subscribers, respect you not being able to talk about it for a while. Subscribers look up to you during our times of sadness and hardships and you always seem to help and are there for us and now it's our turn to be there for you. Focus on what makes you the happiest GLB. Love you💜

I know this is really off topic but do you think you and Lucy will film dorm tours this year? I love you guys!! ❤️

I started rowing because of you you've been a real inspiration to me

Don't ever apologize for being happy! Love you and so proud of you for being honest and open

So much respect for you to be able to share such personal information. It's being loyal to this whole RU-vid family. Love your videos & you. 💙

Aww this is so sad how they wouldn't let you talk about rowing. Like something you were so passionate about was limited for you to talk about. I know when I first found your channel and heard you rowed, I was so fascinated that I looked into it at my college. Things didn't work out for me, but it made me knowledgable about it. I would think that it would provide a good message about rowing and especially to go to Boston University. This is just crazy, but I think you made the right decision for you Gretchen. Sorry to hear about this, but now you can try so many other things on campus that you weren't allowed to before. :D

I rowed my freshman year of college at a D1 school as well (as a walk on) and I totally understand where you are coming from! It is such a big commitment, but it's a blast. I had a difficult decision to stop as well, and while sometimes I did regret it, I know ultimately it was the best decision for me.

Wow, that is so much stress on you girl. I hope everything works out! You definitely have to follow your heart and hope for the best! Good luck with everything Gretchen 💕

i think we are the same person (im a d1 rower at UVA)

i cried while watching this I'm so proud of you gretchen this is such a big decision i hope everything works out!

So incredibly proud of you on making your decision and following your heart.

aww this is sad to me. I never knew the rules were so strict. I'm glad you're staying on RU-vid! I love your channel and you always keep me uplifted with your happy attitude!

You're such a wonderful person, Gretchen, and SO well spoken. Thank you for this!

I watched this whole video even tho I don't know anything about rowing 😂 But I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that last year and will definitely keep supporting your RU-vid so you didn't make a mistake! Tons of people love your channel and I'm sure you'll continue to grow thanks for opening up love you !😊

I admire you for the decision you made either way! As a subscriber I admire you for this difficult decision. We love you!!!!

I also row D1 at a school in Michigan and my rowing deterred me from doing a youtube channel too. I know exactly what your going through! It is frustrating going through all of the NCAA red tape. Love your videos!

ok like a million times thank you thank you thank you for this video! I've been talking to a lot of d1 schools for tennis so I plan on playing but I also plan on doing RU-vid and videography. thanks for this tip so much, I really hope ncaa does take a reality check working next few years because that's just ridiculous

Glad you're happy and content with your decision, love you girl!

I think you are so strong for being able to make this decision. It must have been so hard. Ugh I'm so sorry this happened.

Aww I'm so sorry you had to deal with this!!!

I would love hear more about how rowing works. Such as what the different classes mean. Congrats on being a D1 athlete and yay for having a great team.

I think this is a super mature decision. When you start to doubt yourself, try and remember that it's super important to do fewer things well, it's so much better to fully invest in a couple things instead of doing too many things half way. Being stretched too thin is SO easy to fall into in college.

Is Lucy still rowing?

I meant you at a regretta (the one that was so rainy and cold in April) and it was amazing that I was able to see you. You have inspired me to be a D1 rower. But like you, I also chose to stop after my freshman year. I didn't know what I was getting in to.

Gretchen Im so proud of you!!!! You are following your passion and that's always the best. Those rules suck its so unfair anyways. Also I was wondering what happened with rowing cause you used to talk about it all the time, but its really understandable. Love you

fav youtuber!!! ILY GRETCHEN❤❤❤❤❤

I rowed from 8th grade all the way through high school and I loved it so much! I got really burned out my senior year though and I knew I didn't want to continue rowing in college but I'm so glad I did it in high school. I definitely recommend rowing for people who are thinking about trying it out!

So glad you made this video Gretchen!

glad you made this video Gretchen. I'm glad you've chose what makes you happy. :) also did you vlog your move in day to your sophomore year? I love your freshman year move in vlog!

BU is my dream school to continue coming at thank you so much for this video it was so helpful I'm happy you're following your heart!!

That's so crazy! I remember commenting on a vlog asking if you were still rowing because I though u quit. So sorry that you couldn't talk about something you love to the people u love

hope you have a great school year and this decisions pays off! also i live near boston so hopefully i see you one day this year :)

I rowed for the first three years of high school and I had the worst experience this past fall on the team which led me to quit. I have such a passion for the sport and am really sad that I'm not doing it but it's for the best.

Yeahhhh Wisconsin! But it's sad that they had to keep this from everyone:(

Good for you. That's so sad. I've been asking. Proud of you.

I went through hell with the NCAA I get it, I chose the same thing to only do it for a year. I know this video is old and I'm so late with this comment but I want to tell you that I feel you girl and I'm glad you shared this with the world the NCAA has so many secrets and things to hide and people need to know

Did you lose your scholarship?

You're incredible Gretchen!

Omg I was just scrolling through dorm tours and then this video came up and I row and idk I just thought that was so weird just because like not the most common sport. I've been rowing since I was 10 and that's so cool a RU-vid rows too!!!!!

I can completely relate to how stressful being a student athlete can be Im a cheerleader for my college and I also work 3 jobs and take 4 classes it can be very Stressful i think its important to make school a #1 priority at college also id love if you did a meetup in boston!

Yay! I've been waiting!!

Love you Gretchen!!💕💕

i respect you so much!! ur so realistic i love it

I absolutely love you and appreciate your honesty ❤️

What does it take to be a D1 athlete?

I play D1 softball and I think the NCAA rules are absolutely insane! I guess we can thank men's football and basketball for that.

I’m a 15 year old rower I love it but it’s unbelievably difficult and intense

I'm so sorry to hear that you had to give up rowing, it's such a great sport and I can't imagine being told I couldn't row because of something else I love to do. I am very interested in rowing at BU on the lightweight team, I know you said you don't want to share your times publicly but is there any way i could talk to you just to see how my times compare before I try to talk to the coach about being recruited ?

My 7 yr old son Loves watching your videos! He stumbled on them one day when googling BU for Jack Eichel videos. Anyway, he's very happy you're not quitting your RU-vid. I asked him if he wanted me to ask you to do a hockey video but he informed me that you already did one for Vlogmas Day 4. LOL

Being a D1 athlete is hard. I'm struggling. Life is good tho

How time consuming is a division one sport? Was it hard to balance school work? I'm currently being recruited for soccer and am scared to be over loaded. Btw congrats on making d1 and for following your heart! At least you can look back and say you got to do it all

Rowing is one of the best sports I do!!

I love you so much, thank you for sharing this 💖

so much respect for you

When are you going to film a room tour?

Love ya!!

Hi from Germany🤗 I love your videos! 👍🏼

Sooo weird. My twin sister and I were both recruited to row D1 for the University of Connecticut. Dealt with the same thing!

Why are You aloud to talk about this now? Because you're no on the team anymore?

Gretchen, where is your necklace from? I LOVE IT!

Is this why lucy can't be on the vlog channel

in ten years you probably won't want to row. But in ten years at least youtube will have given you great connections as well as help finding jobs etc. RU-vid will def help you more in the long run :-)

Why didn’t you just do unsponsored videos?

What's the average 2k score for a light weight rower that wants to be recruited/what scores are the coaches looking for? I'm a LW4 rower and also and junior and I'm beginning to think about athletics in college also i was wondering how much of a time commitment is it

If you still wanted to row you could probably join a club in Boston!

Is Lucy still a division 1 athlete?? Love you ❤️❤️

Are you going to be uploading a move in day vlog?

Go Gretchen!

I clicked on this video just to see if you were a rower and you are!! So am I!!

Did they let you keep your scholarship or did you have to get a new scholarship or something ? Like I’m not sure how that works but I’m curious

the NCAA is ridiculous anyways.

omg if you went to Amherst we'd be so close :))

pleas don't tell me you walked away from a full ride D1 scholarship, please.......

Were you also not allowed to instagram photos or tweet about rowing?

What kind of necklace is that, that she has on?

Can you only do 3 official visits?

More rowing videos please!!!!

You made the right choice gretchen! only time will tell what happens next!

Love you!

Hi, I was wondering if it is to late to start crew your sophomore year in high school and become a D1 college athlete?

could you tell me your 2k pr just for reference, i row in high school and want to continue in college:) love you

is lucy rowing still?