SE: Building for the Future, But Living in the Present
Feb 01, 2022 | Rowing, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
"It's 7:28 p.m. We have a terrace that has lights on, but otherwise it's pretty dark right now, otherwise I'd show you our view," Kaitlyn Henke says into her screen. She just finished a Zoom internship interview with a global design firm, Populous, in Kansas City. Over the weekend, she'll visit Rome. Currently, she's in an apartment she shares with one roommate in the hill town of Orvieto, located in Umbria, about one hour north of Rome.
"People are like, 'Why Populous?'" she continues. "I don't think I'm ready to let go of sports. I'm not ready to be away from sports in any way yet. I want to combine my two passions. We'll see. Someday designing a stadium or arena is a goal. The real goal to work on something in the Bay Area and Steph Curry walks by, crosses me up, and shoots a 3 over me, and that's all. That's it, really."
For virtually all of her Kansas State career, Kaitlyn has been about build…build…build. Somewhere in Tuttle Creek, there's a velvety water surface, smooth like a plate, that aches for the yells that echo as she belts out commands to four rowers, her friends – no, more like siblings, like family – because that's what they've been for many years now, as they dip their blades into Tuttle Creek, and build…build…build to an even glide. "It's a feel," she says. "You need a steady pace. It's rhythmic. You play with tone and volume. They listen to your voice."
Less than an hour before, the fine folks at Populous heard her voice. How Kaitlyn grew up in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, earned the David R. Earle Memorial Scholarship in Interior Architecture (2019-present), and is on the Dean's Honor List (2018-21) at K-State. How she has earned three varsity letters for rowing and has been on the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll all three years and has been named All-Big 12 First Team twice.
She's spending the spring 2022 semester as one of 40 K-State students at the "Italian Studies Program — Orvieto," offered through the K-State College of Architecture, Planning and Design (APDesign). She studies at the Centro Studi Citta di Orvieto and resides in an apartment located in the historic city center. The program provides her with an extraordinary opportunity to study design and planning in a European setting. She's surrounded by masterpieces of art and environmental design. She's broadening professional horizons. She's experiencing Italian culture, art and design.
On top of her schedule with seminars and studios guided by K-State professors, she's in a pasta-making class, a leather-making class, a cheese tasting class, a honey-tasting class, an olive oil class, a basket-weaving class, and a craft beer class. It's encouraged, all of it, because K-State organizers aim to enrich the lives of their students in all areas during this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"We're trying not to sleep," Kaitlyn says, chuckling. "I'm not sure if it's the amount of coffee I'm drinking — it's so normal to sit at a café. Every single apartment here has a French press. I think it's the excitement of fresh air, a new culture — you don't want to miss the smallest little things."
Although Kaitlyn isn't literally dreaming of building with hammer and nails, her mind explores, and that's where Populous comes in. Populous has designed 1,325 stadiums in 34 countries. That includes Arrowhead Stadium and 15 other NFL Stadiums. Nearer and dearer to Kaitlyn's heart, Populous designed the Vanier Family Football Complex.
"I had this idea of locker rooms for the longest time," she says. "I figured, 'Locker rooms — every athlete deserves their own special prep space for whatever sport they play.' That's such an important space that's often overlooked in sports because that's where the camaraderie happens, and the real relationships, and everyday interactions take place that make a team. That kind of translates into, 'Maybe I could do more with communities.' Maybe it's Boys & Girls Clubs but also involved with sports side in some shape or form.
"Then stadiums came along, and I could design those and create an atmosphere that's bigger than a person themselves."
She giggles.
"Honestly, whatever opportunity I get in the real world, I'll take it. I like to learn. If I can combine my two passions while learning it wouldn't be the worst thing."
Build…build…build. She had no idea what she was building as she built it. She chose K-State for its APDesign program, regarded among the best in the United States, but didn't necessarily choose rowing. She came home from Barrington High School one day in December of her senior year to find her father, Steve, holding a flier addressed to her.
"Look at this," he said.
"What is this?"
"You could be a Division I athlete," he said.
"No way. No shot."
"Look, I have filled this out for you. No harm, no foul," he said.
"Well, I guess an opportunity," she said, "is an opportunity."
"We toured K-State and got to see the rowing facilities and I would be a coxswain and most freshmen are walk-ons," Kaitlyn continues. "After seeing the facilities, I thought it was great. I think about 95% of the team arrives not knowing how to row. It's a learned sport, physically and mentally, and in all different aspects. In no other sport I've been in — I also played water polo for a few years — have I ever seen a more physically-demanding sport than rowing. This coxswain role I'd never heard of in my entire life. You know, there's a silent 'w' in there — 'cox-sain.' I don't know what clicked. It's indescribable, really."
Kaitlyn is 5-foot, so she fit the coxswain role perfectly. Most coxswain are no taller than 5-foot-4. She orchestrates. She fuels the boat with her voice. She uses terminology that makes perfect sense to rowers but is a foreign language to us. If all goes as planned, the boat goes straight, the oars become as one, and everyone is following the same line of music. Her commands — and yes, she does pay particular attention to tone and volume — set the tempo to the ride. 'Now, quick in, quick in, pin it, build it, build it, 2, 3, 4!' When every fiber burns within the rowers, they concentrate on Kaitlyn's words. "Quarter slide, quarter slide, half slide, full, full…" They build and maintain.
As a freshman, she coxed the 1v4+ boat, where the boat was undefeated at the Hornet Invitational. Her boat won bronze at the Sunshine State Invitational Grand Final. Her boat beat Kansas in the Sunflower Showdown First Varsity Four race and placed third at the Big 12 Championship. As a sophomore, her boat earned bronze at the Jayhawk Jamboree. As a junior, her boat took bronze at the Sunshine State Invitational and received Boat of the Week honors. They beat Kansas and finished third in the Big 12.
She laughs at herself, because it's almost 8 p.m. in Orvieto and she's neck deep in APDesign and leather making and olive oil making, she just got off a Zoom call with an internship, and she's exhausted, and she is gearing up for a trip to Rome, and now she is explaining rowing terminology to a sportswriter in Manhattan, Kansas.
"The girls keep you sane but crazy at the same time," she says. "It's a little crazy how much you really lean in and really make it feel like a home. My major demands a lot of work, so I'm not with the rowers all the time, but I consider them my second family on top of school and architecture. There's a level of trust between rower and coxswain, so you kind of have that built in just through the sport."
Although the K-State student visas last until June, allowing for an opportunity to travel around Europe, Kaitlyn plans to return to Manhattan on May 9 "because people I hold close to my heart are graduating." She plans to watch her rowing teammates at the Big 12 Championship in Austin, Texas on May 15 via live stream, then meet them when they get off the bus in Manhattan.
She's listed as a redshirt junior. Technically, she's a fourth-year senior in a five-year major.
"It's a bit buddled with the COVID year," she says, "but all I know is I'm coming back another year."
Back in the boat, back calling the shots, back to build…build…build as her rowers feel the burn and power through to the cadence of her voice. After that? Graduation. Then perhaps Populous. But all Kaitlyn knows for sure is that she absolutely loves what she does, and what she plans to do, which is dream and create, perhaps in the sports realm.
And hopefully, one day, she'll run across Steph Curry.
"It's 7:28 p.m. We have a terrace that has lights on, but otherwise it's pretty dark right now, otherwise I'd show you our view," Kaitlyn Henke says into her screen. She just finished a Zoom internship interview with a global design firm, Populous, in Kansas City. Over the weekend, she'll visit Rome. Currently, she's in an apartment she shares with one roommate in the hill town of Orvieto, located in Umbria, about one hour north of Rome.
"People are like, 'Why Populous?'" she continues. "I don't think I'm ready to let go of sports. I'm not ready to be away from sports in any way yet. I want to combine my two passions. We'll see. Someday designing a stadium or arena is a goal. The real goal to work on something in the Bay Area and Steph Curry walks by, crosses me up, and shoots a 3 over me, and that's all. That's it, really."
For virtually all of her Kansas State career, Kaitlyn has been about build…build…build. Somewhere in Tuttle Creek, there's a velvety water surface, smooth like a plate, that aches for the yells that echo as she belts out commands to four rowers, her friends – no, more like siblings, like family – because that's what they've been for many years now, as they dip their blades into Tuttle Creek, and build…build…build to an even glide. "It's a feel," she says. "You need a steady pace. It's rhythmic. You play with tone and volume. They listen to your voice."
Less than an hour before, the fine folks at Populous heard her voice. How Kaitlyn grew up in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, earned the David R. Earle Memorial Scholarship in Interior Architecture (2019-present), and is on the Dean's Honor List (2018-21) at K-State. How she has earned three varsity letters for rowing and has been on the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll all three years and has been named All-Big 12 First Team twice.
She's spending the spring 2022 semester as one of 40 K-State students at the "Italian Studies Program — Orvieto," offered through the K-State College of Architecture, Planning and Design (APDesign). She studies at the Centro Studi Citta di Orvieto and resides in an apartment located in the historic city center. The program provides her with an extraordinary opportunity to study design and planning in a European setting. She's surrounded by masterpieces of art and environmental design. She's broadening professional horizons. She's experiencing Italian culture, art and design.
On top of her schedule with seminars and studios guided by K-State professors, she's in a pasta-making class, a leather-making class, a cheese tasting class, a honey-tasting class, an olive oil class, a basket-weaving class, and a craft beer class. It's encouraged, all of it, because K-State organizers aim to enrich the lives of their students in all areas during this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"We're trying not to sleep," Kaitlyn says, chuckling. "I'm not sure if it's the amount of coffee I'm drinking — it's so normal to sit at a café. Every single apartment here has a French press. I think it's the excitement of fresh air, a new culture — you don't want to miss the smallest little things."
Although Kaitlyn isn't literally dreaming of building with hammer and nails, her mind explores, and that's where Populous comes in. Populous has designed 1,325 stadiums in 34 countries. That includes Arrowhead Stadium and 15 other NFL Stadiums. Nearer and dearer to Kaitlyn's heart, Populous designed the Vanier Family Football Complex.
"I had this idea of locker rooms for the longest time," she says. "I figured, 'Locker rooms — every athlete deserves their own special prep space for whatever sport they play.' That's such an important space that's often overlooked in sports because that's where the camaraderie happens, and the real relationships, and everyday interactions take place that make a team. That kind of translates into, 'Maybe I could do more with communities.' Maybe it's Boys & Girls Clubs but also involved with sports side in some shape or form.
"Then stadiums came along, and I could design those and create an atmosphere that's bigger than a person themselves."
She giggles.
"Honestly, whatever opportunity I get in the real world, I'll take it. I like to learn. If I can combine my two passions while learning it wouldn't be the worst thing."
Build…build…build. She had no idea what she was building as she built it. She chose K-State for its APDesign program, regarded among the best in the United States, but didn't necessarily choose rowing. She came home from Barrington High School one day in December of her senior year to find her father, Steve, holding a flier addressed to her.
"Look at this," he said.
"What is this?"
"You could be a Division I athlete," he said.
"No way. No shot."
"Look, I have filled this out for you. No harm, no foul," he said.
"Well, I guess an opportunity," she said, "is an opportunity."
"We toured K-State and got to see the rowing facilities and I would be a coxswain and most freshmen are walk-ons," Kaitlyn continues. "After seeing the facilities, I thought it was great. I think about 95% of the team arrives not knowing how to row. It's a learned sport, physically and mentally, and in all different aspects. In no other sport I've been in — I also played water polo for a few years — have I ever seen a more physically-demanding sport than rowing. This coxswain role I'd never heard of in my entire life. You know, there's a silent 'w' in there — 'cox-sain.' I don't know what clicked. It's indescribable, really."
Kaitlyn is 5-foot, so she fit the coxswain role perfectly. Most coxswain are no taller than 5-foot-4. She orchestrates. She fuels the boat with her voice. She uses terminology that makes perfect sense to rowers but is a foreign language to us. If all goes as planned, the boat goes straight, the oars become as one, and everyone is following the same line of music. Her commands — and yes, she does pay particular attention to tone and volume — set the tempo to the ride. 'Now, quick in, quick in, pin it, build it, build it, 2, 3, 4!' When every fiber burns within the rowers, they concentrate on Kaitlyn's words. "Quarter slide, quarter slide, half slide, full, full…" They build and maintain.
As a freshman, she coxed the 1v4+ boat, where the boat was undefeated at the Hornet Invitational. Her boat won bronze at the Sunshine State Invitational Grand Final. Her boat beat Kansas in the Sunflower Showdown First Varsity Four race and placed third at the Big 12 Championship. As a sophomore, her boat earned bronze at the Jayhawk Jamboree. As a junior, her boat took bronze at the Sunshine State Invitational and received Boat of the Week honors. They beat Kansas and finished third in the Big 12.
She laughs at herself, because it's almost 8 p.m. in Orvieto and she's neck deep in APDesign and leather making and olive oil making, she just got off a Zoom call with an internship, and she's exhausted, and she is gearing up for a trip to Rome, and now she is explaining rowing terminology to a sportswriter in Manhattan, Kansas.
"The girls keep you sane but crazy at the same time," she says. "It's a little crazy how much you really lean in and really make it feel like a home. My major demands a lot of work, so I'm not with the rowers all the time, but I consider them my second family on top of school and architecture. There's a level of trust between rower and coxswain, so you kind of have that built in just through the sport."
Although the K-State student visas last until June, allowing for an opportunity to travel around Europe, Kaitlyn plans to return to Manhattan on May 9 "because people I hold close to my heart are graduating." She plans to watch her rowing teammates at the Big 12 Championship in Austin, Texas on May 15 via live stream, then meet them when they get off the bus in Manhattan.
She's listed as a redshirt junior. Technically, she's a fourth-year senior in a five-year major.
"It's a bit buddled with the COVID year," she says, "but all I know is I'm coming back another year."
Back in the boat, back calling the shots, back to build…build…build as her rowers feel the burn and power through to the cadence of her voice. After that? Graduation. Then perhaps Populous. But all Kaitlyn knows for sure is that she absolutely loves what she does, and what she plans to do, which is dream and create, perhaps in the sports realm.
And hopefully, one day, she'll run across Steph Curry.
Players Mentioned
/ Rowing
K-State Men's Basketball | Postgame Press Conference at Colorado
Thursday, February 26
K-State Rowing | Media Day
Tuesday, February 24
K-State Rowing | Weights Practice
Tuesday, February 24
K-State Tennis | Weekend Recap vs Old Dominion & Minnesota
Tuesday, February 24
