Personal Narrative: How Tennis Changed My Life

In high school there are many sports and activities to choose from. At my high school not many girls chose to play tennis, but that didn’t stop me. I played on the varsity team from freshman year to senior year, winning the conference championship two years in a row and got fourth place in the sectional tournament. Although it brought be success it seriously changed my life in many ways. Playing tennis gave me confidence; it brought me to Lewis and Clark and gave me lifelong friends. I am not naturally a social butterfly and before high school it was pretty hard for me to talk to people I didn’t know and often times I found myself uncomfortable in my own skin. As a freshman, I was a little awkward and initially the older girls made me uncomfortable.

Starting my freshman year, I met many girls that I have grown very close to. Through every sleepover and dinner and movie night, I have many memories that have filled my life with a large number of memories and happiness. For example, my friend Eboni; we met when I was a freshman and still haven’t lost touch. We meet once a month to eat at Olga’s and catch up. Another example is Jennie we also met when I was a freshman and we were fast friends. We played doubles together and few times and had a lot of good times during bus rides to matches and inside jokes. Even to this day we still see each other from time to time and talk about tennis and share our old jokes. Another friend I made playing tennis was Sami. We played tennis together for two years and sat next to each other on the bus to every match. We had a lot of good times at team bonding dinners and parties. For example, we stayed up all night at a sleep over after making ourselves sick eating Buffalo Wild Wings. However, our friendship was cut short due to a car accident where Sami unfortunately passed away. After losing an amazing teammate all of these friends I met playing tennis got together to be there for one another. Even now when we all get together we know that she’s there in spirit. Thanks to tennis I met amazing friends that left me with amazing memories that will remain with me