I Had A Winning Talent For Table Tennis

I asked Emma Nuzzi what she thought her biggest accomplishment was, she replied with “I would say becoming a very good tennis player.” Emma Nuzzi started playing tennis at age twelve, which she thinks was a late age. When Emma was in the seventh grade she told her gym teacher that she wanted to play tennis she then replied to Nuzzi with “Maybe.”, this did not encourage Emma at the time because her gym teacher was the varsity tennis coach. Emma did not let this get to her too much because she practiced and became the player that she is today.

I went from being one of the best players in New England to middle of the pack at a top academy. My classmates are from all over the world, including China, India and Venezuela. I work hard to keep pace, dedicate extra time with coaches and appreciate the structured time for our academic classes. These experiences have helped me to learn more than the game of tennis: balance, commitment, nutrition, preparation and teamwork. More importantly, these experiences have helped me believe in myself and look at challenges as opportunities. I would like to encourage other girls and women to build confidence and work toward their

During the earlier years of my tennis career, about the age of seven, my parents had learned of a nearby organization at Watkins Park Maryland. The organization was known as the Prince George’s Tennis and Education Foundation. It was here where I began to make my largest strides in my life, both academically and athletically.

After winning junior tournaments I wanted more and therefore; I challenged myself to the next level. I remember having a chat with my dad, he was giving me a father to son chat about life and what is best to focus on whether academic studies or sport? As he was concerned because I was spending more time playing sports than doing school work. He said life of sport is hard but, I reassured him that everything will be fine. I knew I had a mind set and ability not to give up because my strength lies on mental toughness and my settling for second best wasn’t /is not satisfying outcome.

“Oh no, please don’t tell me this is happening. Mom, can I just skip this tournament?” I pleaded, “There is absolutely no hope for me.” Being the dramatic person I am, I lamented the imminent end of my tennis career. I went into the tournament with an expectation of failure. I started the match by accidentally whacking the ball over the fence, tripping on my own feet rushing to end the point. The little confidence I had when going into the match dissipated within a few minutes. I continued the match pondering how to angle my racket to put spin on the ball. Every time I failed, I blamed it on the high skill level of my opponent. Unsurprisingly, I lost in an hour. When looking back on that match, I realized that it could have gone differently had I not brought myself down before. My lack of

I feel that my commitment to studies and my community have helped me prove my character. As a Varsity tennis player, Class president, and an active member of my community, I manage to keep 3.9 GPA. As a tennis player, I have to possess confidence, authority, and honesty. During a match, I have to make the calls on whether a ball is in or out. It’s tempting to call a ball out, however, I must be honest and use my authority as the opposing player to make the correct call, however, when I say the call I need confidence in myself about what I am about to say. Many people see me as an excellent tennis player because of these qualities.

Over the last two years of my High School education, I found the extracurricular activities I fit in the most. I am part of Student Council, National Honor Society and a member of the tennis team. They all have molded me to be the best. However, I feel like tennis has impacted me the most. It’s a sport that has taught me so much, from being physically fit, to mentally prepared for any outcome. I learned that a game it’s not about winning or losing, but about how it’s played, and what it took to get there. Being in a team is about contributing others, and learning from them. It’s about accepting that we all make mistakes, and only practice can reduce the times we make them. So many loses and few victories, but I always preferred to sheer my

The time and effort I have put into each and every day to shape who I am displays my dedication. Growing up, I had a vision of who I wanted to become because of the influential people who surrounded me. As my current chapter is coming to an end, I realized I obtained my goal; I have managed to play every sport that interested me. My goal led me to play my three favorite sports, all four years of high school. Along with my athletic abilities, I have managed to maintain a spot in the top ten percent of my class, which made me eligible to participate in National Honor Society.

Although college tennis was the main reason I came to the United States and was offered a tennis scholarship to play NCAA Division II tennis at University of Minnesota, Crookston, I soon found myself gravitating more towards academics. The opportunity to pursue college tennis came to me once again when I transferred to the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities the following year, but a deep cut on my right thumb a week before the tennis tryouts left me barely able to write, let alone hold a tennis racket. Sure, it was disappointing, but I was quickly able to shift gears and focus on college. Soon after it was time for me to declare my major and chose Economics as I had enjoyed studying it in high school, but half way into my college career, I realized that as much as I was enjoying Economics, it wasn't seeming like a life-long profession to me. I thrived on human interactions and wanted to pursue a career that would allow me to work directly with people and be of service to

Writing a similar topic, Gabrielle Longo, a graduate of Johnson &Wales University, writes about her success, "Without tennis, I would never have succeeded as much as I have at Johnson & Wales, and would not have been able to graduate early...playing a sport has helped with my time management and organizational skills. I have learned about teamwork and have developed my leadership skills through my time as

Athletics has played an instrumental role promoting success in all branches of life impacting my performance in school, work and other life facets. Involvement in athletics taught me the value of commitment allowing me to play in Division 1 Women’s Soccer while attending the University of Washington. As a former student athlete, I have been winning and losing my entire life developing my own resilience and tremendous work ethic to work with others toward a common goal. My drive spills over into my professional interactions and career aspirations allowing me to connect

From my first T-Ball team to my senior year track club, the comradery and confidence I have gained from competing on numerous sports teams has made an enormous impact on my life. Growing up, I went to a very small Catholic school. With less than 100 students in the entire school district. In third grade, our family moved to Manteno. Where each grade level had at least 120 students. Baseball and Basketball were crucial for me in my early years. It was how I became acquainted with most of my friends growing up in Manteno. If it wasn’t for competing on a team, I would have stayed timid for the rest of my life. With the confidence sports have gave me, I have been able to challenge myself to experience the world and all

However, I learned very quickly that I could not rely only on my natural talent. Although, I did achieve my goal, I was not satisfied with the end result. Determined to be successful in the activity I loved, I came to understand that the amount of effort I invested in this activity should correspond with my natural ability. The next year, I worked relentlessly on researching and memorizing. Free time was spent on practicing in my room for hours. Ultimately, my efforts resulted in two state medals and hopefully I will be able to return to the state tournament later this year as a senior and be awarded, yet again, a state champion title.

I have always been told that I got blessed with my genes. Everything I do athletically just comes natural to me. I have had the opportunity to play multiple sports whom of which I have had success in. In all of the sports I’ve participated in I have loved soccer the most and track is just the most natural sport for me. I’ve played soccer for over half of my young life. Soccer just makes me happy when I play. I have also been blessed by being average at soccer too. I didn’t do well my 9th grade season so coming into being a Sophomore I wanted to change that. I worked hard in the off-season and I became a varsity Captain and I finished the season 3rd in the area for assist and was a 2nd team All-District player. I was proud of myself but i knew I didn’t give it everything I had.

Evaluating the difficulty of being an athlete and in good academic standing, it is understandable that some people will agree with Mr. Vroon’s claim that smart students cannot be athletes. According to Beron, J. Kurt and Alex R. Piquero, Student athletes (SAs), however, must focus on GPA during their collegiate career. . . [h]owever, they are required to “be in good academic standing and make satisfactory progress toward a degree as determined by the institution,” which invariably includes campus-level GPA requirements” (Determinants) (143). SAs or student athletes are required to be in good academic standing in order to have a collegiate career which contradicts with Mr. Vroon’s claim that smart students cannot be athletes; furthermore, athletes have an advantage over ordinary students because if their career in sports fails they have their degree or degrees to fall back on. According to the authors, both male and female student athletes had higher grade point averages due to encouragement from their coaches towards their majors and if their parent or parents had a college degree (147). If these conditions are met a