She had taken dance for several years by that time but had not danced competitively. Neither had her career as a gymnast been particularly serious. Had she opted to get serious in either of those areas I would not have been surprised. There was some precedent. For her chosen sport there really was none.
She decided tennis was her sport. She had batted a ball around the court some with a cousin who played. But she did not own a racquet. She had never taken a tennis lesson.
When she told me that she intended to "try out" for the junior high tennis team, I suggested lessons, in fact. A tennis club located nearby offered lessons after school and all summer.
"There's no time," she told me. "Tryouts are just in a few days."
Try as I might to convince her she needed to learn the sport better before she played it, she was determined to go for it. And go for it, she did.
Waiting until the fall would not work, she explained, because only a single seventh grader would likely be selected for the team.
After school lessons would not help. she reasoned, because there was not enough time for them to make a difference.
Oh, and she made the team.
Of course.
She was determined...
the next year, she made the JV team.
the year after, she made the high school team.
She played in the state high school championships more than one of those years.
She attended her first year of college on a tennis scholarship.
She played at the national collegiate level.
This is why I am not concerned about her ability to navigate the rough waters of law school. She is determined...
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