Junior Jessica Emoto, a full IB student, has a hectic schedule because she tries to balance tennis in with her daily life. Growing up with tennis makes Emoto who she is today: an athlete.

Around age seven Emoto began using tennis to shape her life and her personality.

“Tennis is good exercise and a fun activity that I made friends through,” Emoto stated. “It gave me experience, and I learned how to be dedicated.”

According to tennis coach Alan Simpson, comparing to when he first met her until now, she has transformed as an athlete.

“She became a quicker and stronger player,” Simpson observed. “She hits all the balls safely and softly and has beautiful techniques.”

Emoto enjoys playing tennis because she has been playing tennis ever since she was a little girl, and she would not know what to do if she did not play it. As noted from Emoto, she plays tennis passionately because it is a part of her, it helps her meet new friends and it gives her a sense of competitiveness.

According to Emoto, she has experienced some “unfortunate losses this season”. She had a total of three losses, one against Centennial senior Ify Aniefuna and the other two losses were to Central Catholic’s sophomore Elizabeth Johnson. Emoto said that she did not play very well during the season, so that is why she lost, especially to Aniefuna.

When Emoto went to districts, she got second place among the other tennis players so she gets to go to State. She noted that she had two relatively easy matches that got her into the top four. Then she played against Aniefuna in the semifinals. Emoto won those matches 6-2, 6-1. She added that she played a lot better in the district tournament than she had all season.

During her finals Emoto played against Johnson. The match was really close, and the scores were 6-4 and 7-6. It was a tough match to lose, but Emoto did not let it rattle her. She said that she looks forward to doing well at State and challenging Johnson again next year.

Even with full IB this year, Emoto works hard to fit tennis into her everyday schedule. She usually practices from an hour to a few hours for each practice session.

“Tennis is definitely a very mental game. I need to learn how to maintain my focus under all the stress from school during games,” Emoto exclaimed.

Tennis has also brought Emoto to meet new people. According to senior Aminah Khinnarath, a tennis player whom Emoto once played doubles with, they both met each other in tennis.

“Playing with Jessica was such a fun experience because she makes it fun,” Khinnarath commented. “I would much rather play alongside Jessica because, from prior experience, it was fun.”

Khinnarath describes Emoto to be a quiet–but outgoing–smart and unpredictable girl, who is an amazing baker aside from being an athlete. In school, she is very attentive and hard working like she is in tennis.

“Jessica practices on many days of the week, including weekends,” Khinnarath proclaimed. “[She] normally isn’t moody, however, if she is having an off day, it is apparent in her tennis playing because she isn’t as confident.”

Emoto helps to lift the mood when she jokes around with her friends and teammates, but when it comes to being on the tennis team, she shows a great amount of support.

“She takes her role as a part of the team seriously, and she is an example of GHS of how a student should be,” Simpson remarked.

Both Simpson and Khinnarath agree that Emoto is a skilled tennis player. According to Simpson, she is somewhere around the best in state and one of the best in school.

Khinnarath adds that Emoto is a USTA champ, state-leveled, varsity player because she plays tennis year-round even when tennis season is over and attends competitions all over the state. Not only does she always do her best to try and improve her game, but she gets practice outside of school from other people, as well as private lessons from her tennis coach Lap Ly.

As she continues to play tennis, it will help strike the key points in shaping her future because of the time she spent with it.

Emoto plans to play tennis in college and hopefully earn scholarships with her playing. As for the rest of her future, Emoto shows signs that tennis is the sport that she would stick with all her life because it has been a part of her lifestyle ever since she was seven years old.

“I want to keep playing tennis for the rest of my life,” Emoto announced.