"I went to college at Clark University in Worcester MA, to study psychology and in my spare time you might be surprised to know I was the coxswain (the person who leads the boat and tells the rowers what to do) for the women’s rowing team. Imagine a 19-year-old on the bow of an 8-woman shell, megaphone in hand, shouting encouragement to my teammates on a cold fall morning on Boston Harbor. It was a job made for me – I would never have had to run for that office. The position I held on that prow sums me up well – leader, coaxer, cajoler – goal driven, trusted, knowing what is possible, and helping others to see it. I learned a great secret of politics on that boat: friendship and getting in a person’s face were not mutually exclusive."

Sen. Terri Bonoff, in a campaign-related email sent out on March 7, 2008