SPENCER FUREY ’17 MAJOR: HISTORY HOMETOWN: FAR HILLS, NEW JERSEY
42 | admissions.dartmouth.edu
Studies PHOTOGRAPH BY DON HAMERMAN
“I possess a bit of an obsessive personality.” That might surprise you if you don’t know Spencer Furey well. He’s just easy to be around. But to people who know rowing — and to people who know how Spencer rows — it makes complete sense. Spencer graduated from Dartmouth as the captain of the heavyweight rowing team, then trained with the United States national team last summer before matriculating at Cambridge University in the fall. There, he is pursuing an MPhil (roughly equivalent to an American master’s degree) in American History with a thesis focusing on how personality characteristics of American presidents shape their policy-making. He’ll also compete for a spot on the crew that will race in the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race, the annual race on the Thames River that is televised to millions on the BBC. The truly remarkable part? Spencer arrived at Dartmouth with zero rowing experience. He intended to walk on to Dartmouth’s tennis team, but when there weren’t any spots, he looked for a new challenge and found rowing. The direct relationship between hard work and success rewarded Spencer’s obsessive tendencies, and he quickly found himself learning everything he could about the sport. He discovered the Boat Race and was immediately drawn to it. “I remember watching the race for the first time in the spring of 2014 and thinking that it was a competition that I wanted to take part in one day,” says Spencer. “If I worked hard in the classroom and on the water, I told myself, I might have the opportunity to join the tradition.” Four years later, he’s doing it. And he’ll draw on his experience as a novice rower at Dartmouth to succeed at Cambridge. When he joined the Dartmouth team, Spencer had to work hard to gain a sense of belonging among accomplished teammates. Though it was difficult, the experience was invaluable. “The process of getting outside of my comfort zone was imperative for my development, and I look forward to using these experiences as I once again become the ‘new guy’ at Cambridge,” he says. If all goes well, Furey will return to the States next summer a Boat Race winner, and rejoin the rowers at the USRowing National Training Center to pursue a spot on the United States national team. He’ll be the “new guy” again, but — for once — it won’t be new to him.