Life Lessons From Tennis

I started playing tennis during in the 7th grade, not having any experience at all. I ended up practicing with some of my older friends on the team every Friday afternoon because that it was the one day of the week that they didn’t have regular team practices. Through their help, I became halfway decent at the sport and figured out what worked for me and what didn’t in terms of how to swing and feet and hand placement, and preference in racquet weight and string thickness.

By the time I was a freshman in high school, my older friends had already talked to the coach about me and recommended me to her as one of the few freshmen allowed to play for her and have a private tryout. During the tryout, I did well and was one of two freshmen starting on the varsity tennis team where I played through my senior year. I made some of my closest friends through playing on the team, ended up with an invaluable relationship with my coach, and have priceless memories of late- night bus rides from tournaments.

I learned that I am not as unathletic as I and most of my peers and family had assumed because I had never played a sport for the school before that. I also learned that it was very rewarding and gratifying to come out of my comfort zone. and that the pain, sweat, and tears were tiny sacrifices compared to the self-confidence, physical gains, and emotional bonds I have forged through my tennis experience.

I failed my first exam in honors college biology even though I felt like I was prepared a lot for the exam. I didn’t fail it very badly; I was only a few points away from a C. But to me, it hurt quite badly. Because as the cliché goes, I was the salutatorian of my high school and had never failed a test this badly before.

However, it is important to keep in mind that most of the people in the honors section took AP Biology and earned credit for the class but were retaking the course for either a GPA boost or for professional school prerequisites. Whereas in contrast, I am from a rural town of East Texas and have most of my college credit from dual credits. My school didn’t offer AP science classes at all, so I was learning this material for the first time. In contrast, most of my class was reviewing material they had already learned and gained an in-depth understanding of the coursework. I called my mom when I got my grade back, and she made me feel better. In retrospect, I felt I was compounding everything by keeping it to myself. Since I was ashamed of failing my first exam, I put in even more time preparing for the next exam, practicing on Quizlets that I had found that covered the material and redoing study guide questions.

I definitely think that there is a common thread in both of these experiences because in both experiences, putting myself out there and putting in the long hours practicing led to and (I have high hopes) will lead to pay off in the long run at the end. I would say I am more courageous in putting myself in challenging academic situations because I have done that multiple times and have never found anything so difficult complicated that I couldn’t handle it with enough time commitment. I am willing to put in the time and continuously work at something while looking toward the future.