From Player to Coach

When tennis season ended, I needed to find a new place to take my tennis skills. Besides staying in shape, I figured that it was finally time to all my tennis wisdom to younger, less experienced players. For this reason I decided to embark on a new challenge: working as a tennis coach. I went into the experience expecting to take from it one thing: my first pay check. However, once I started feeding balls and noticed some of the faults in the kids’ swings, I naturally began to offer advice on the things they could do to improve. Every Saturday and Sunday for the past two months, I have become more and more engrossed in the two hour clinics. What started for me as a way to earn some quick cash has become skill which I try to improve each time I am on the court. I have also had to develop a new kind of relationship: the coworker relationship. In this vein, I have achieved learning outcome #4. My coworkers and I have collaborated together in order to figure out the best way to reach these young kids.

Besides teaching, I intend to reach out to the tennis community in order to start a charity tennis tournament. Along with fellow IBer and tennis teammate Visakan, I wanted to spread the news to other tennis teams around the area in hopes of drawing some interest for a mixed doubles tournament. For a small fee, players would be able compete against other high school kids they know from the high school season and test their skills. I think it could be a great way to have some fun, meet new kids, and contribute to a great cause!

Logan 2010

A few weeks ago, I went to Logan for the last time with my fellow IBers. As usual, it was a rewarding experience. I remembered once again how lucky I am to go to a school like DCDS, where academics rather than subsistence are the students only objective. I was reminded of my summer experience in Costa Rica, where students also came from poorer families. However, the most prominent parallel I drew from the two schools was the students’ ability to look past their struggles at home and enjoy their classmates and the learning experience. Knowing how much the kids enjoyed their time in school, I came prepared to Logan ready to make that school day even more special. I think this is my realization of learning outcome #7: recognizing the ethical implications of my actions. Volunteer time in Costa Rica and Logan has helped me understand that spending time with these kids is far more valuable than just buying them a gift or helping their financial situation. The experience is the most valuable thing I can offer them and that can only be done through volunteering.

We did some very cool activities with the kids this year. The IB group had to work together to assign ourselves to the large group of kids and efficiently (cleanly) get the projects done. The first two groups we worked with had young kids who needed a lot of direction to complete the project. However, the biggest challenge was the last group of kids, which consisted of second graders who spoke very little English. Before I knew it, I was busting out the Spanish I had practiced for four long weeks in Costa Rica!! I really achieved an understanding of learning outcome #8: developing new skills. I have just recently tried to improve my proficiency in speaking Spanish and I took advantage of this opportunity to do so.

I really enjoyed this Logan experience and am sad that this was my last time at the school. I hope that the younger grades understand the importance of volunteering their time with less fortunate kids and take full advantage of this rewarding experience.