A few days ago, I attended my last ever athletics banquet. Admittedly, I walked in with a bad mood, worrying about my job and frustrated after a long day of looking for apartments. Yet, as the familiar faces, ones I have looked at for years now, divided themselves into two teams for a round of sand volleyball, I was brought back to the past and the present reality.

I joined the tennis team as a walk on after I transferred into JBU during my sophomore year. I hadn’t touched a racquet since sophomore year of high school, but I have always loved the sport. Despite my love of being on the court, I almost quit, about a month after I joined. It was so much more of a time commitment than I had expected, and honestly, the team wasn’t as close as I had expected it to be. Our now retired coach encouraged me to stay, asking, “you like to play the sport, right? Then why not get practice and get better?”

What came next was better than I could have ever anticipated. Being a student-athlete never crossed my mind before JBU, but looking back, I can’t imagine JBU without it. It has been the most defining factor of my time here. Being an athlete grows you in many ways, including leadership, sportsmanship, character and, of course, improvement in your respective sport. These last few seasons will be lasting memories for me and for many of my teammates too.

So, a few thank yous are in order.

First, the opportunity to be a student athlete would be impossible without an organized, motivated, and welcoming athletic director. Robyn Daugherty, I hope you know how much we appreciate everything that you do. It could not have been easy to coordinate and weigh decisions for eight sports during a global pandemic that limited contact, yet you did so gracefully and with excellent communication. On a more personal level, I hope you know that many of us say we want to be like you when we grow up.

I am biased, but I believe tennis has the best coach around. Mike Campbell is approachable, encouraging, wise and a hoot to be around. Mike, you juggled multiple jobs, COVID-19 protocols, practice and match scheduling, and never complained. You make each person on the team feel seen, which allows us to grow as tennis players and, more importantly, as people. You have made a lasting influence on every single person on the team. Thank you.

After months of COVID-19 isolation, my team was a built-in friend group that I could still see regularly. You were a bright spot in a dim year. I wholly believe that I wouldn’t have graduated without this tennis team. They pulled me through. In the words of one of my teammates, “I knew I was going to have a team, I didn’t know I was going to have a family.” So corporately, I extend a measure of gratitude to each of the past and present athletes. You have shaped me into who I am today.