Each week, the Record (using a script in R) randomly selects a student at the College for our One in Two Thousand feature, excluding current Record board members. This week, Ava Rust ’25 discussed life on women’s crew, raising Ryder the Croom baby doll, and the tragic tale of her beloved moccasins. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Quinn Casey (QC): Let’s start with an elevator pitch about yourself.
Ava Rust (AR): I’m a woman. I’m a woman from Bay Area, California. [Laughs.] I’m a junior political science major with a concentration in environmental studies. I’m also on the women’s crew team.
QC: You’re the first One in Two Thousand of the spring semester. How was your first week of class?
AR: It was a breeze.
QC: Was it? Do you like your classes?
AR: Yeah, I’m scrambling to fulfill my major requirements, so I’m taking two [environmental studies] classes and two [political science] classes. I’m taking my political science classes back-to-back — one is about feminism and the other is about conservative welfare. [Laughs.] I really like spreading myself on the political spectrum.
QC: What are you most excited for this semester?
AR: I’m excited to be in season, and I’m excited to be back from abroad and spend time with my friends again. I’ve missed them so much.
QC: Right! So you recently studied abroad in New Zealand. What’s it like being back in Williamstown?
AR: It’s been overwhelming. I feel very old on campus. I don’t recognize any of the [first-years]. Campus looks super different.
QC: What looks different? The people?
AR: Yeah, like walking into Paresky I think, “Who the heck are these people?” But all of my friends are back from abroad, so we coordinated that well.
QC: In your first year, you walked onto the women’s crew team. What inspired you to join the team?
AR: Well, [the team was] at the Purple Key Fair. I was just walking around, and they were basically like, “Are you athletic and not on a team?”
QC: So you consider yourself athletic?
AR: Yeah, I’m very athletic. [Laughs.] No, I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to work out without the structure of a team — which is a skill that I will have to learn after college. I basically wanted a workout and social group because I could tell that a lot of things [on campus] were organized by teams. I didn’t know anything about rowing when I started.
QC: Wow. Was it a difficult adjustment?
AR: Not really.
QC: Wow, a natural! [Laughs.]
AR: Not a natural! [Laughs.] The walk-on process is well-done because the team relies on walk-ons. We have a whole fall season where [the walk-ons] have separate practices from the team to learn how to row. It’s a very good system.
QC: Many members of the men’s crew team enjoy DJing. Are you planning to join the craze?
AR: I am going to set up my own craze, and it’s not going to be the type of music they play.
QC: What type of craze? Your own DJing one?
AR: Well, next year, we’re living in a house that is split between the men’s and women’s teams. I plan on representing the women and their tastes in music.
QC: Because, as you said, you are a woman.
AR: Yeah! We’re going to collaborate, but [the men’s team] really likes DJing, and I really like being on aux. So it’s not perfect. They put a lot of effort in.
QC: But you let it flow naturally?
AR: Yeah, it’s more natural for me. I don’t need to spend hours on — what is that app that everyone uses? SoundCloud?
QC: Sure.
AR: Did I give any of them a shoutout? There’s DJJB [James Johnson-Brown ’25.5] and Michael LesStrang [’26].
QC: If you were to DJ, what would your stage name be?
AR: Crusty Rusty.
QC: We’re sitting in my common room. You were — are — the mother of “Ryder the Croom baby,” a toy baby doll, since our first year. Where is Ryder today?
AR: I know where Ryder is. Well, there’s two now. I own “Ryder 2.” He was found by my friend, Tad [Montesano ’23], in the pool, drowning. There was the original Ryder before him. I believe the track team owns him. Look up @ryder_thecroombaby on Instagram. There was a whole custody battle over [the original Ryder].
QC: I remember it well. Would you consider yourself a good mother?
AR: I was a good mother. I gave Ryder to the track team, and they never returned him to me. The only time that I was a bad mother was when I let him go out with other people.
QC: A mother’s worst fear.
AR: Right. Kidnapped.
QC: You had a similar love for your moccasins. Sorry to bring it up.
AR: Oh my god.
QC: Would you like to honor the life of your beloved moccasins by sharing their story?
AR: I think that’s a great way to honor them. You’re really making me emotional. [Sighs.] I was given a pair of L.L. Bean moccasins in sixth grade, and they were so comfortable. I loved them. I get attached to things, so they were with me forever. I would wear them to high school every day, and then I took a gap year in Hawaii where I worked in a greasy food truck. I wore them every day. Then, I brought them to Williams, and I’d wear them every day. I lifted in them. They went on hikes. Then, I took them to New Zealand [to study] abroad, and someone took our shoe rack … and only returned one moccasin. It broke my heart.
QC: If you could talk to the person who stole your moccasins, what would you say?
AR: Well, I did talk to them. I chewed them out. I told them you never know what your actions may do to people.
QC: To bring the mood back up, what is your favorite memory from your time in New Zealand?
AR: Oh! I was in New Zealand with a bunch of my friends from Williams. None of us had ever done a long race before, but Jane [Gutchess ’25]’s mom does Ironman [Triathlons], like every year. She was like, “You guys should do this race,” and one of our new friends said the same. Jane’s mom flew to New Zealand to do this race with us. We barely trained, and we ran this race on a very remote island off of Antartica. We raced through the jungle for 20 miles. That’s a highlight.
QC: Finally, any big plans for Valentine’s Day?
AR: Yeah! Let me plug carnations quickly. The women’s crew team has a tradition every year where we sell carnations to the whole student body and distribute them around campus on the eve of Valentine’s Day. The donation goes to the Elizabeth Freeman Center in North Adams. I will be distributing carnations and spreading love.
QC: Beautiful.
