On Monday 9/11/17 I gathered up enough courage to go to the athletics department to ask about the tennis team. All i wanted to do was gain some information but the second I said “tennis”, the sports adviser John Nevins immediately started telling me, the coaches contacts. I’ve been playing since the age of 4 through private lessons and because my high school never had a tennis team, I decided that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I emailed the coach a few hours later and immediately got a response saying to call him. I had a very nerve wrecking phone conversation, because he was assuming that I had been competing my whole life since I had been playing for so long (I haven’t), and he was making it sound as if the whole team were some pro-athletes. He interviewed me, asking questions about my skills and finally told me to go get all the paper work filled out so that he could see how I play and join the team. This day has been overwhelming but this chance to play is exactly what I needed. I suddenly feel like there’s more to college than just studies.
Aside from tennis, art has been a major part of my life since I was 3. These past few days I took my friends with me to the Met, and several art galleries such as Gagosian gallery, David Zwirner, Fridman gallery, etc. We were all in the art program in high school, but we’ve never branched out to actually walk around and look at art, until our senior year. I was personally inspired to paint more after visiting these exhibitions, that gave me a new appreciation for art. When I was little even though I loved drawing/painting, I always thought museums were boring because they had so much historical items that made no sense to me, and the colors were dull or black and white. However, I learned that it simply depends what museums you go to and what parts you visit. Art comes in different forms and something unique about it, is that everyone can find something they like. One of the galleries I went to had a pumpkin bigger than me, and a circular statue that you could climb into. I recommend everyone to visit places that they least expect to like, because you never know that might turn out to be your new favorite destination.
These last two paintings are mine and have been inspired by the galleries I visited.
