Corey Johnson: stepping outside her comfort zone

By: Justin Lafleur, Lehigh Sports Media Relations

Stepping outside of your comfort zone isn't easy. Whether in school, sports, social interactions or any aspect of life, you tend to gravitate towards things that are comfortable and familiar to you. Lehigh women's rowing senior Corey Johnson has made a concerted effort to step outside of that comfort zone in many aspects of her life… and it's paying off.

A senior from Broomfield, Colorado, Johnson was open to several college possibilities (she applied to 13 schools) and she ended up at Lehigh, more than 1,700 miles away. Originally from Boston, she wanted to come back to the East Coast.

"I visited Lehigh and absolutely loved the campus," said Johnson. "When it came down to my final decision, I received an academic merit scholarship, so that made it cheaper than other options, which played a big role in the decision."

Like many current Lehigh rowers, Johnson played sports in high school, but never rowed.

"I came here knowing that I wanted to play sports, but I figured it would be club soccer or water polo, since I swam in high school," she said. "I knew I wanted to be active and I've always loved being a part of a team. Then I found rowing. After 18 years of playing soccer, swimming and skiing, I feel like I found my sport. It just clicked."

The irony of Johnson becoming a rower is that there's barely any water around her in Colorado.

"College is such a great opportunity to explore new opportunities," said Johnson. "One of the biggest bodies of water near my hometown is less than 1,000 meters in diameter. I never had the option of rowing presented to me, so it seemed like a fun way to push outside my comfort zone and in the end, I found something that I love."

Johnson is currently in the Women's Varsity Eight and was a star performer from the beginning.

"My first memory of Corey was her sitting on the rowing machine for a 10,000 meter workout, holding a record-setting pace and still talking to the coaches," said Lehigh head coach Brian Conley. "She had taken all of her hard work in all of the other sports, namely the aerobic aspect, and applied it to rowing."

As a freshman, Johnson was in the first novice boat that won a silver medal at the prestigious Dad Vail Regatta. She's been a member of the Varsity Eight ever since.

Johnson had so much success from the beginning, which makes her believe that rowing was always meant to be her sport.

"I've always had a love of the water. There's also so many different muscles involved that I'm able to apply my strength in ways I wasn't able to in other sports," she said. "I realized my love for rowing during a Saturday morning practice that first fall.

"The leaves were changing colors so the river was beautiful," Johnson continued. "The boat had been pretty shaky because we were still learning the stroke. We finally started taking strokes together and I loved how powerful we felt, but at the same time, how peaceful it was to be rowing in unison with seven other people. It's a sensation that I never felt while playing other sports in the past."

Johnson's rowing career began innocently enough, at the fall club fair.

"The club fair is when the whole front lawn is just covered with swarms of people and every single different club imaginable," she said. "I went with girls from my freshman hall and rowing was actually one of the first tables that we stopped. They said hey, we're having an informational meeting next week and you guys should all stop by, and I think all of us went."

The first thing Johnson had to figure out is, "what does it take to be a rower?"

"I'd heard of rowing and seen it on TV at the Olympics one year, but I never pictured myself doing it," she said.

From the first informational meeting, Johnson was hooked.

"They had this really intense promo video," she said. "It looked really cool and I loved the thought of being a Division I athlete. I had thought about playing at a Division III school for soccer. I had talked with some coaches, but in terms of fit, Lehigh was a better university for me. I went to the informational meeting and decided to go to the first practice, again with my friends from my freshman hall. From there, it's been something I've really enjoyed."

While at Lehigh, Johnson has experienced the best of both worlds - a tremendous education while developing into a decorated Division I athlete, literally learning the sport from scratch. If she wasn't open to expanding her horizons, she wouldn't have come to Lehigh from Colorado and she certainly wouldn't have gone to an informational meeting for a sport she barely knew.

Johnson has used the new experiences to grow as a complete person. At first, the move from Colorado was tough, but it became more challenging when her parents moved to Australia last summer.

"My dad works for an international engineering firm and they had a contract in Brisbane," said Johnson. "He took advantage of the opportunity and my mom moved out there with him this past summer. That's where I spent my Christmas break."

Parents living so far away has forced Corey to become even more interdependent. There's a 15-hour time difference between Australia and the East Coast of the United States.

"I've had a great relationship with my parents growing up," said Johnson. "Moving out to Lehigh, I was able to call my mom after class and just catch up, but now, if I call her after a 10 a.m. class, it's the middle of the night for her. If I call her any time after practice, she's awake. It's definitely been an adjustment, but I'm getting good at figuring out how to gain independence.

"I can't use my parents as a crutch. If I have a problem in the morning, I'm not going to call and wake them up," she continued. "I'm going to figure out how to do it myself. It's a good transition into the real world."

Johnson is as ready as ever for the real world. She owns a stellar 3.75 GPA as a Biology major, has been named to the Academic All-Patriot League Team twice and hopes to start medical school in the fall. In her medical school interviews, Johnson has used experiences and skills from her rowing experience which have taught her something more important than erging… life skills.

"I remember one interview specifically, I walked out thinking I should have used examples other than rowing. But there are just so many ways I've been able to relate what problems I'll have to face as a physician to things that have happened on the team… ways that my Lehigh experience have prepared me," she said. "I have learned how to handle stress and perform under pressure. I have confidence in my ability to work with people from so many different backgrounds. It's never a homogenous group, so you get experience with people from all over the country, all over the world with different backgrounds, different sports they've played and different interests.

"Rowing has given me opportunities for personal growth and understanding of and how to achieve my goals," Johnson continued.

Johnson's independence was on full display when she studied abroad the fall semester of her junior year.

"I told myself that I wasn't going to say no to things," she said. "For example, I've always had a hard time with certain foods. I would never eat tomatoes or onions, but I told myself that I wasn't going to pick out the tomatoes in every meal. I was going to try everything once and now, I love tomatoes.

"If you just stay inside your comfort zone, you never give yourself an opportunity to grow and see the things you can accomplish," Johnson continued. "I might have had a great time on the club soccer team, but I wouldn't have had the opportunity to become the captain of a Division I team, meet all these fantastic people and discover a sport that I'll be able to do for the rest of my life."

"Many people worry that they've never done something before and therefore won't be good at it," said Conley. "Rowing rewards people who step out of their comfort zone for a moment and are willing to give something new a try and give their best effort. Rowing is always a work in progress. There is always something more to learn or give and Corey thrives in that type of setting. She loves to see how much farther she can go and how much better she can be, both in the boat and out of the boat, so rowing is a perfect fit for her both now and even after Lehigh."

Without stepping outside her comfort zone, Johnson would not be in the position she is today… a star Division I athlete who's destined for greatness after college.

"I'm sure I would have enjoyed my four years at Lehigh no matter what, but rowing has just made this experience that much better," she said.

Completed Event: Women's Rowing versus Patriot League Championships on May 15, 2026 , , 8th of 9

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Corey Johnson: stepping outside her comfort zone

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