- 2022 Spotlight
Personal Statement
My competitive tennis career started at the age of 7. By the age of 12, I obtained a top 16 ranking in the Missouri Valley region by competing in multiple USTA tournaments. In middle school, I continued to practice tennis, but my competitive focus changed to the pursuit of my basketball career. In my freshman year of high school, I competed in swimming, basketball, and tennis. During the swim season I achieved all-state honors in the 200 free relay. As a leader in the freshman basketball team, I was chosen to be team captain. Despite my successes in swimming and basketball, I was most excited about the tennis season in the spring. I was hoping to continue my successes a leader, build camaraderie with my teammates, and further develop my skills. Unfortunately, the Covid pandemic was a devastating blow to my tennis season, limiting my first in high school year to 1 week of practice. For the next year, I continued to practice, but my tournament play was limited due to restrictions from the pandemic. Tennis has always been my passion, however, after taking a break and being limited to minimal play, I realized how much I truly enjoyed playing tennis. When I resumed competitive tennis my sophomore year in high school I feel that my desire and drive to take my game to the next level were stronger than ever.
I am also very motivated to perform well in school. My parents have always put a large emphasis on academics and performing my best in class. They both work in the medical field which has motivated me to one day to pursue a career as a physician. The broad knowledge base, skills, and satisfaction of helping others by being a physician have always interested me. I have always felt a pull to pursue a career in medicine. Since I was young I have told my parents I would like to play tennis in college and become a physician. I am on track to achieve my academic goals with a 4.297 GPA with multiple AP and college-level courses.
My goal is to play tennis at the highest level possible in college and possibly beyond. I believe the skills I have developed by playing other sports will help me to achieve this goal. I have learned that a strong will, dedication, and perseverance are needed to succeed in swimming. Nothing teaches you these skills better than 2-hour workouts starting at 5 AM followed by school and then 2-hour workouts after school.
Playing basketball is also benefited me in many ways. It has taught me that hard work, discipline, and being a team player lead to success and opportunities for leadership. In addition, it is helped me develop my foot work, balance, and hand eye coordination.
Sports have also taught me the importance of goal setting and working hard to reach those goals. In swimming, I set the goal of breaking the school record in the 50 freestyle at the beginning of my junior year. By the end of the swim season, I not only set the school record, but I set the conference record and went on to become the state champion. I have made the sacrifice of cutting basketball out of my high school athletics , but I plan to swim my senior year of high school. I have set my goal to be all state four years in a row as well as to defend my title in the 50 free. I plan to use this challenging experience to continue to develop my physical and mental skills which will be very useful for my tennis career.
Ultimately, my goal in life is to enjoy the journey of trying to achieve the highest level of success and everything I pursue.
