Abby Farrell
I have been fortunate enough to experience a lot of love, and one aspect of my life that incorporates a lot of the love is the wonderful game of tennis. My dad introduced the game to Taylor and me when we were little, and it quickly became a family sport. Whether the play would be doubles on a family vacation, one-on-one instruction with dad, or doubles with Taylor in a junior team match, tennis was always associated with family. The game brought us all closer because we had a mutual love for the challenge, fun, and privilege of playing the sport.
Tennis also builds a love connection among friends. Most of our family social circles run through our tennis club, a place we can share our love of the game with other likeminded people. Taylor and I met some of our closest friends doing the same at tennis camps in the summers. Tennis gave me the opportunity to travel to Europe, where I met others who I will consider some of my best friends for the rest of my life. While I traveled, tennis became a platform in which I learned about other cultures and developed a love and respect for people in different parts of the world.
Tennis season in high school was an especially important time for our family—dad coached, Taylor was a star doubles player and vocal leader on our team I could lookup to, mom was our number one fan, and I was given the opportunity to be put in the spotlight for the first time. The process, which ultimately led to winning the state title my senior year, was a huge learning and growing process, which helped to me continue to love myself as well. Tennis brought me all the way to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to play for Lehigh University where I had the best four years of my life so far (going on five!). Being a part of the tennis team at Lehigh allowed me to meet some amazing people that will be in my life forever, improve my game, and develop leadership skills. Tennis also became an excuse for my parents to fly out to see me many times, and once by surprising me at West Point! In the summers I was able to use tennis as a job by running camps and giving lessons, and hey, who doesn’t love a little money too?
I also have a lot of love for the coaches who helped me learn and love the game of tennis. Their selflessness and skillful instruction allowed me to love the adversity, stressful experiences, determination, goals, discipline, endurance, mental toughness, close line calls, optimism and joy that tennis brings. Loving the challenge your opponents present is another potentially surprising result of playing the game. Tennis has been an enormous influence that molded me into the person I am today and I cannot thank my dad enough for teaching me how to love the game.
Although some people think tennis is just a game where love means nothing, tennis has allowed me to foster love for my family, friends, opponents, coaches, schools, other cultures, and myself. I hope to experience the same love for the game of tennis for the rest of my life.
