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STUDENT PERSPECTIVESNick Brodie(2004, Geography; 2007, MSc,Drylands Science and Management)15Nick conductingfieldwork in TunisiaIt truly is anall or nothingrace.At around 5.40pm on Saturday 29 March 2008, Iwas sitting in a boat under Chiswick Bridge in London.We had just won the Boat Race. When we had crossedthe line I had simply felt relief, and had put my headin my hands and said ‘Thank God’. I know only toowell how painful it is to lose this race and it was sucha relief to see eight rowers in front of me celebratingvictory this year, rather than slumped over their oarsenduring the pain and agony of defeat.Two days after the race I found myself getting up at3am to catch a flight to Tunisia where for the nextweek I would carry out two fieldwork projects in theSahara Desert as part of the Master’s course I wasstudying. Initially I wanted to stay around Oxford andspend time with the squad, celebrating the victories forwhich we had worked so hard. However, as soon as theplane touched down, I felt that there was nothing moreappropriate I could be doing at that moment. After sixmonths of such intense training, preparation anddieting for one race, travelling abroad to a continentthat I had never visited before was exciting and theprospect of studying the processes controlling dustemission on a dry lake-bed was surprisingly refreshing.When trying to communicate with native Arab farmersabout the sustainability of a desert agriculturaltechnique which has been practised for over aAfter the Boat Racethousand years, the last thing on your mind is rowing,or the Boat Race, or indeed what had happened in mylife just a few days previously.I feel I now have a grounded perspective on this year’srace. It is now that it begins to sink in and one canreally appreciate just what it means to have won. It ishard to describe and I am sure everyone in the squadwill explain it in their own way. For me the initial feelingwas relief, now it is more satisfaction. I feel content.I feel as if I have not been able to relax truly for years;it is now no longer a struggle to smile! Finally I canmove on from Oxford and rowing. I have spent at least abrief moment (but usually a lot longer) of every day forthe last four years thinking about winning this race. Iam certain that losing this year would have stayed withme for life. Perhaps this is a good way for an outsideror spectator to understand just what this means to us.It truly is an all or nothing race. Thank God we won.30/ N I C K B R O D I E