Bailey South of the WVU Rowing team sat down for an interview with WV Sports Nation to preview the upcoming Big 12 championship, as well as her recent academic achievements. Read more: WVU Rower Bailey South Reacts To Academic Achievements, Previews Big 12 Championship.
Earlier this month, South was named an Eberly College Outstanding Senior in Anthropology, and a 2025 Eberly Scholar, which is the college’s most prestigious scholarship honor for undergraduates.
South Reacts To Her Academic Achievements
“Both of these accolades really mean a lot to me. I pride myself on working really hard in my academics, and receiving these really sort of feels like everything is coming together and my hard work is paying off.”
South talked about how the importance of being an Eberly Scholar.
“The Eberly Scholar is really meaningful to me because that means that I am really representing Eberly well and that as both of my majors anthropology and history are within Eberly, it means that I am putting those to good use.”
When I asked her about being an Outstanding Senior for the Anthropology Department, she discussed the connection to her hard work in academics.
“The Outstanding Senior in Anthropology is really meaningful because that means I was selected as the best senior graduating from that program, and I’ve really learned a lot from the anthropology program, so being able to sort of be rewarded for the work I put into that is really special.”
After the interview, South revealed that she had also been named a WVU Foundation Outstanding Senior, an award that is awarded to less than 1% of the graduating class.
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South’s Advice To Other Student Athletes
I asked South about the advice she gives to other, younger student athletes on managing the demands of both a challenging academic program and a robust career in athletics.
“I would say honestly just doing what you love. Obviously student athletes are coming to college and pursuing the sport that they love, so that makes working hard and really pursuing excellence in athletics easier because there’s that love of the sport, but also pursuing something that you’re really passionate about academically.”
South On Upcoming Big 12 Championship
After covering her success in academics, South went on to discuss the upcoming Big 12 Championship and her thoughts on her final days as memeber of the West Virginia Rowing Team.
“I’m mostly thinking about the task at hand. I know my boat has some goals and so do all of our boats. We really want to show the work we’ve been putting in all season. I think we’re in a good spot to do that, but I am feeling a little bit kind of reflective about it, especially because rowing has been so meaningful to my college experience.”
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South’s Favorite Memories At WVU
South shared some her favorite memories during her time at WVU, including some of the experiences she’s had in Morgantown outside of rowing.
“For rowing I obviously really enjoy competing, but I also find the sort of grind of training fun. I especially enjoy training trips, that gives us a chance to be somewhere else outside of Morgantown for a week, we always get some good sort of team bonding in.”
“Outside of rowing what I am really going to miss is, I actually have a job on campus, I work at the art museum of WVU. The art museum has become really really meaningful to me, and I am definitely going to miss the work I’ve done there and the people that I’ve met.”
To finish off the interview, South would discuss her future plans after her time at WVU is over.
South On Her Future After WVU
“My end goal is a museum career, I’m not sure what sort of position specifically, but something in the museum field. I’ve had some experience in my time at WVU across different sort of museum jobs.”
“Immediately after college, I have an internship this summer at a museum in Philadelphia, and then after that I’m taking a gap year to work on grad school applications. I’m figuring out what program I want specifically, but again, something that gets me to that end goal of a career.”
You can watch the full interview below.
WVU Rower Bailey South Reacts To Academic Achievements, Previews Big 12 Championship
