Polina Makarenko '24 Recruiting Profile

I fled from the war in Kiev, Ukraine with my mom in July 2022. A man we had never met sponsored us to come to the US and live in New Hampshire. My 11th grade year has been at a wonderful US high school, where I’ve been learning English and keeping good grades. My love for tennis started at 3 years old. I trained 5-6 days a week in Ukraine until just before the war, when I suffered a back injury. After several weeks of keeping safe in a basement bunker, my mom and I escaped on a truck to Poland with just one backpack (and my tennis bag, of course!).

I have always dreamed of being able to live in America. I‘m a devoted student and I absolutely love tennis. I found other teenagers in NH who also play tennis, and we immediately started coaching a group of young children so I could earn money to buy a US cell phone. I still provide assistant coaching to children, teach Russian to high school students on the side, and babysit. 

My sponsor family and their friends raised some money for me to continue training, but sadly, it’s not been enough to bring me back to my pre-war levels. I am willing to train and push my body for multiple hours a day in pursuit of my goals — to get a degree in Life Sciences or a healthcare field while playing on a college tennis team.

news story: https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2023-03-21/uprooted-from-ukraine-promising-tennis-player-finds-her-footing-on-the-court-in-nh

news story: https://www.seacoastonline.com/story/sports/high-school/2023/04/11/polina-makarenko-flees-ukraine-finds-home-winnacunnet-tennis/70096808007/