Makenzie “Mak” Scholten
My name is Makenzie “Mak” Scholten and I am a Senior this year on the Women’s Rowing team at Stetson University, and this is my story on how my scars forever changed my life.
I grew up as a kid with a dream to play collegiate softball, in a stadium where fans would cheer as my name was announced and my walk up song would play over the loudspeakers. I also played basketball growing up probably because my dad played
it and I have always been one of the tallest girls in my class since 5th grade. Over time my hips, starting with the left one, began to bother me and cause extreme amounts of pain and discomfort. So, I was placed into physical therapy for them around age 12. However, 2 and ½ years of therapy and cortisone shots later my hips had only gotten worse resulting in the inability to run, squat, and sometimes even walk. One day my physical therapist suggested that I possibly could have a torn labrum in my left hip, and that this was the reason I was experiencing such pain. So, my family decided that it was time to see a hip specialist. Within minutes of seeing this doctor, my life changed forever.
On that day, shortly after my 15th birthday, I was diagnosed with bilateral hip dysplasia. Hip dysplasia is most commonly a condition that you are born with, and is where your hip socket (acetabulum) does not fully cover the ball portion of your upper thigh bone (femoral head). Due to the high volumes of competitive softball I was playing at the time along with the numerous amounts of basketball up and downs that I was running, I was told I needed to have a hip reconstruction and a repair on my labrum in order to even be able to function in life, let alone sports. So a month later, I had an operation done called a PAO, where they basically cut my pelvis apart in 3 places, put it back together with 3 four inch stainless steel screws, and reconstructed my hip so that my hip socket would fully cover the head of my femur. Honestly, the 6 month recovery was miserable and was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do in my life. I not only had to spend time in a wheelchair but had to learn how to walk and run again using an AlterG Treadmill. The doctor told me that the likelihood of returning to action sports was possible but unlikely and that he highly encouraged me to find another way to spend my free time….but let's just say I am a little stubborn. So, I attempted to go back and play softball 6 months after my surgery which ended poorly at a travel team tryout with the ambulance driving onto the outfield to get me, after going down during a relatively
normal routine drill. Into the ER and back in the hospital, I quickly came to the realization that it was time to give up that dream.
Meanwhile, my Grandma had been texting me everyday and dropping not so subtle hints about giving the local rowing team a chance. So, after many pleads and possibly a bribe or two I went to the first day of the learn to row program with my dad and told him, “OK I will try it but I am not going to like it.” That summer is where my rowing career started. I then made the team and rowed the whole year until I had to have the same hip surgery on my right hip in 2016. That recovery was a bit easier because my right hip wasn’t as badly displaced, and I knew what to expect recovery wise. When I returned back to rowing following that year is when I decided I wanted to row in college. It was after months of recruiting and getting denied by some schools, due to my medical history, that a little D1 school called Stetson University in DeLand, Florida took a chance on me and offered me a scholarship. The past three years of college athletics have not been easy on my hips, and I may just win the award for the most hours spent in the training room. An award no athlete wants to win! About a year ago, before the start of my Junior year, I had been having hip flexor issues and the same surgeon who had done my PAO decided the best course of treatment was to have my left hip flexor tendon cut completely in half. So, in order for me to finish my last two years of rowing, I did just that. Obviously, like all spring sport athletes, I then lost my spring championship season due to COVID-19. I do not know what the spring holds for competition this coming year or if I will get to race one more time but I do know this:
My scars will forever remind me how strong and beautiful I am, and that sometimes life gives its toughest battles only to someone who can persevere through them. Without the late diagnosis of my condition I would have probably never joined rowing, and rowing truly did change my life. Rowing taught me the true meaning of grit, dedication, and team-work. I have met some of my best friends through the team, and I belong to a family that supports and uplifts one another no matter what. I was able to help my team win the 2018 state of Florida Freshman 8 Championship for the first time in school history, beat D1 teams that were ranked more than 30 spots ahead of us, had the best erg performances of the 2018-2019 season, helped our team place 4th in the MAAC conference (the highest
finish in school history), and I currently hold 2nd place on the 2K all-time leaderboard. This was all done with the strength I gained from my scars, and I have learned to never be ashamed of them as it simply shows I was stronger than what tried to hurt me.
