Personal Narrative: Number One On The Vacaville High School Varsity Tennis Team

Middle school is a time when kids attempt to figure out how they fit in, and that is exactly what I was looking to do when I started playing volleyball. I was in seventh grade when I decided to try out, and it was only because my best friend was playing. Little did I know just how organized and complex the game was; I just assumed volleyball was a more intense version of “don’t let the balloon touch the ground.” I never thought that I would become so passionate about this sport that it would have an impact on my character.

“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

A few years ago I was training to be professional tennis player at one of India’s top tennis academies. I had been playing tennis only for ten months when my tennis coach suggested I participate in the upcoming national level fastest serve tennis tournament. There was a fear in me, a fear of facing the more skilled, experienced, and accomplished competition, yet my mind wanted to overcome that fear and trust my coach and ten months of training. My coach had immense faith in my abilities to perform well, but being the underdog, I lacked the confidence to compete alongside top ranked players. As the tournament date grew closer, I found myself battling between two paths - give in to my fear and surrender any chance of winning, or escape my comfort

My journey on my high school tennis team has been a peculiar one. Going into my freshman year I was touted as one the stellar players, one who was on the path straight to varsity. Unfortunately, I tore one of the ligaments in my right wrist and was sidelined for the months right before the tennis season. Going into my season, my confidence was low, I was worried about making the junior varsity team. I would end up making JV but not varsity. The next year I was back with more determination. Injury free, I had high expectations but lacked confidence. As I entered try-outs, I was shocked. My teammates were waiting for me. Each one of them came up to me and told me that they knew I was going to play this year, and that I was going to live up to

It was my sophomore year, and the day had come to find out who made the varsity lacrosse team. We piled into the locker room to discover rows of brand new helmets. The list of the varsity players was written on the whiteboard. The team was excited, the locker room buzzing with noise. My heart dropped as I realized that my name wasn’t written there. My friends were admiring their new helmets and I had to hold back tears and disappointment. I know now that I still had to be developed at the junior varsity level, but it wasn’t easy to understand back then. At practice that day, I played out of pure spite, every move filled with rage. You aren’t good enough, I thought. I left practice that day without saying goodbye to my friends.

“Vivian, we are the only two returning players on the team next year”, my co-captain for the Mira Mesa High School Tennis Team notified me.

One time when playing travel baseball my team played in a 16 youth tournament , and we were the only 14 and 15 year old team. We were a very small team in size and numbers , but we had a great amount of talent for our size and age. The tournament took place in Columbus Ohio. We were the only team from Tennessee in the tournament , and we worked very hard all year to make it to the tournament. We played up in pretty much every tournament all season , so we came prepared to see some very talented and big teams. Sure enough we showed up to our hotel the first day arriving and there were tons of teams staying in the same hotel , and by the looks of these teams we were by far the smallest team. The next day was the start of the tournament and we

Gabe’s quote that he chose that best represented his presentation stood out to me. I can relate to these words of wisdom with volleyball. Getting to the State Tournament is never easy for high school volleyball. My sophomore year we fell short in the second round to qualify and that was so disappointing for our team. The next year we came back with lots of intensity and drive, but fell short in the last game before qualifying. Fortunately, we took all the anger and disappointment and worked our tails off. We ended up qualifying, it was one of the coolest experience that has happened to me, and it shows that hard work pays off in the end, and to never give up.

As a leader it is important to follow the motto service above self. My favorite activity / event of the 2016-2017 Rodriguez Prep school year was being on the school’s volleyball team. The experience of being on the school’s volleyball team impacted me personally.

I receive a call from a Freshmen girl the day after an annual event for the Jenks tennis players. According to her, two boys--a Junior and a Freshman--were under the influence of alcohol. 'At a school event, seriously?' I wander.

Always willing to adapt to any given situation, I aspire to make things as convenient as possible for everyone. I have been an avid team member the varsity tennis team all throughout my high school years. Consistently playing mixed doubles with my partners all being upperclassmen, I had reached the point where I became the partner-less upperclassman. In need of a new partner, my coach and I discussed potentials, but reached no solid conclusion. Aware of a new tennis team member, an incoming sophomore, my coach turned to me as a guide and mentor to help him feel comfortable.

As far as most people are concerned, every school tennis court is pretty much the same. The only prominent difference is the surface, whether it is a hard court, clay, or even grass. While I was a member of the Brewer High School Tennis team, I can recall vivid details of the time I spent participating in inter-school scrimmages and district tournaments as well as the other teammates involved. The tennis court I played on was surrounded by a steel, vinyl coated chain-link fence with aged and weathered benches located in the outer boundaries of the court. In addition, the surface of the court was coated with a green, acrylic paint with white boundary lines painted where necessary. There was one practice session where I accepted a challenge to

I chose this topic because lately I have experienced a great deal of dedication lately. My sophomore year I took it upon myself to become the next up and coming golfer in the school. My sophomore year there were two seniors who led the Golf Team: Ryan Sola and Spencer Haldeman. These guys had been showing me the ins and outs of High School Golf and what it takes to succeed at that level. In the Summer, Ryan tried to practice every single day. If Ryan had to work or was out of town he always found a way to get to the range or play a round of nine or 18 holes everyday. Spencer was a very good basketball player and even starts for the UNiversity of Northern Iowa right now. During High School he had many tournaments he had to travel too on the

Playing on the varsity volleyball team is an adrenaline rush like no other. To be able to play the sport you love with teammates that are like family, in front of a crowd of actual family members is the ultimate feeling. Playing is even better when you, a small town nobody, beat a ranked team in the first set. We had just beaten Humboldt 25-17 and I was on top of the world. We were playing like our lives depended on it and I couldn’t be more proud of the girls.

I first started playing volleyball at a very young age. I was in the seventh grade when my volleyball career started. My sister started playing in the seventh grade and I just wanted to follow her footsteps. My seventh grade year was ok because I had just started out and really didn’t know the game. There was A team and a B team, where A team was better than the B team. I tried my best to be on the A-team, but guess where I ended up, on the B team.