Van Fossen Sets High Standard

When the pace picks up in the boat, balance is needed to keep it steady and on course.

And for Kirsten Van Fossen, the same balance is needed to manage everything else in her fast-paced life. In addition to being co-captain of Radcliffe heavyweight crew, the senior is also pursuing a degree in engineering sciences and singing for an all-female a cappella group, the Harvard Fallen Angels.

“Kirsten’s influence on the team has always been one of determination,” senior Liz Soutter said. “You will always catch her trying to work on her strength after practice or staying on top of her homework, so that she can get a good night’s sleep.”

The life of an engineering student can be one filled with many required classes and time-intensive labs—commitments that often interfere with daily afternoon practices.

To help make her schedule work, Van Fossen has relied heavily on administrators and teachers to help her navigate her busy schedule.

“This semester, I can’t go to a [required thesis] class because of rowing, so I am meeting with the professor on a monthly basis,” Van Fossen said. “It’s worked out really well.”

Van Fossen is also quick to thank her coaches for helping her achieve goals both on and off the water.

“I feel like they know how to get the best out of you, and they have definitely pushed me a lot over the past three-and-a-half years,” the senior said.

Sometimes Van Fossen’s academic pursuits took her down the river to MIT in between practices. During Harvard’s spring break, the crew team holds daily training. But because of MIT’s schedule, Van Fossen’s regular classes were still in session and conflicted with practice.

“We would train in the morning and the afternoon—sometimes three times a day—but on the days I had class, the coaches were really understanding,” Van Fossen said. “I just ran over to class in between practices.”

Van Fossen says the passion for engineering she brought to college has allowed her to manage rigorous athletic and academic schedules.

“The reason I have been able to do engineering with rowing is because I knew I wanted to do engineering from the get-go,” she said. “I think it would be really hard if you experimented with classes your freshman year, and then you had to do the 20 requirements. I had finished four requirements by the end of my freshmen year.”

One thing Van Fossen did not start right away was singing. A violinist in high school, Van Fossen went through her freshman year without pursuing any form of music.

“I never sang in high school,” Van Fossen said. “I didn’t want to continue with [orchestra] … but I wanted to continue with music somehow. Freshman year, I was looking around but didn’t try out for [any singing groups].”

But during her sophomore year, Van Fossen auditioned for Fallen Angels and joined the group, which calls itself “Harvard’s premiere all-female contemporary a cappella group.”

For a cappella groups, recruiting periods and Hell Week, the week before a big performance, can require time commitments of up to six hours a day. But for Van Fossen, the scheduling somehow finds a way of working out.

“It just seems to work out perfectly,” she said. “Recruiting week is right when we get back to school, so crew is not super crazy yet. And then crew starts to die down when the [Fallen Angels] fall concert happens.”

Van Fossen has recruited several rowers to join her in Fallen Angels, including sophomore Katie Wilcox.

“[Van Fossen] is very loyal to both the crew team and Fallen Angels,” Wilcox said. “She’s an asset to both, and she will definitely be missed next year.”

Wilcox has been impressed by Van Fossen’s commitments and her ability to manage everything she has chosen to invest herself in.

“She’s not one to gripe about what she has to do and waste time. She will finish practice, go to dinner, go to the library for a few hours and get her stuff done. It’s really impressive.”

Despite her numerous accolades and achievements off the water, Van Fossen is making the most noise on it. Last summer, while not working at her internship with Urban Outfitters, Van Fossen trained with Vesper Boat Club in Philadelphia.

“She trained hard over the summer, and made incredible strides because of it,” Soutter said. “The improvements Kirsten has made over the past four years, let alone the last two months, have really opened everyone’s eyes to the possibilities of what we are all capable of.”

Wilcox agrees and believes Van Fossen’s hard work over the summer is helping not only Kirsten’s performance, but also the performance of the team in general.

“Kirsten leads by example,” Wilcox said. “She worked incredibly hard over the summer on her strength and fitness, and she is really inspiring people right now with how well she is doing on the erg and on the water.”

For Van Fossen, when everything piles up and the week gets tough, taking a second to reflect on her passions make it easy to do everything with such ease.

“I think about what I like about each thing and why I want to continue doing each. For crew, I love the team, I love to work out, and I’m a competitive person. For Fallen Angels, it’s a great group of girls and sometimes it’s relaxing to sing for two hours. And in engineering, I love the problem solving.”