Ella Greenslade earned a full scholarship to be a coxswain on a Division I rowing team completely by accident. The 21-year-old is proud of that.
  
The New Zealand native was already attending college in her hometown of Wellington when a scout from Washington State University rowing contacted her. Greenslade hadn't thought it possible for her to get an international education through rowing.

Universities outside New Zealand don't take in many international coxswains, Greenslade said, so she didn't bother looking for a scholarship.

Not being one to say no to a fantastic opportunity, Greenslade agreed to row for WSU. She studies strategic communication and is minoring in sports communication and applied mathematics.

Accidentally becoming a Division I student-athlete is alright and all, Greenslade said, but she doesn't think it's one of the top defining moments of her life.

An example of something that she considers noteworthy happened when Greenslade was very young. She had been invited to a friend's dress-up party. Since it was an important event, her mom made her a Powerpuff Girls costume. According to Greenslade, it was an extremely nice costume. She said she was teeming with excitement to show it off to all her friends.

When Greenslade arrived at the dress-up party, she quickly realized that she had misunderstood what kind of party it was. Instead of young children running around dressed like princesses or pirates, everyone was wearing fancy dresses.
 
Even though everyone around her was dressed like a "fancy adult," Greenslade said she didn't let that stop her from having fun. Rather than being mortified, she took it in stride and made it into a good memory, rather than a bad one.

That's just the way Greenslade rolls. She's always able to make the bad things in life seem insignificant and comical. Her friends say they wish she would follow them around on their bad days because she can make anyone smile with her wild sense of humor.

Greenslade said her friends and family are to thank for how she turned out. Much like Pullman, Wellington is a very close community. Everything is geographically close, and everyone sort of knows each other. Because of this, Greenslade is very family and friends oriented.

The person Greenslade admires most is her boyfriend, Fin, who she met while in school in New Zealand. According to Greenslade, Fin can just go out into the world and make things happen.

"I aspire to be able to be as confident as him," Greenslade said.
          
When she's not in school or rowing, Greenslade enjoys drawing and playing games on her computer. She also likes outdoor activities such as geocaching and biking.

The kicker is, Greenslade doesn't exactly enjoy the outdoors.
           
"I hate being outside, but I'm also on the rowing team. So, there's not really much logic in that," Greenslade said. "Essentially, I'm like a hermit crab. Occasionally I have to find a new home."
           
Even though Greenslade has a rocky relationship with the outdoors, she hasn't let this stop her from succeeding in rowing. She recently made New Zealand's 2022 U23 rowing team. She will be traveling to Italy in July to train.
 
Greenslade said she hopes to continue her career by rowing at a higher level for New Zealand. She also wants to create graphic design content for sustainability or media campaigns. If that isn't in the cards, Greenslade said she would like to become a teacher.