Learning to String

Just a quick update. Turning a new corner in my tennis career. Learning how to string so that I can make some extra money! Much harder then I ever imagined!!

Kat

Finally got to play!

After about three weeks on teaching tennis to adults and kids, it was finally my turn to play. Believe it or not, I have not been able to really play tennis for about three weeks. It has been killing me to be on the court for six hours a day and not being able to play once. Luckily one the pros, Heinrich, and I were able to get on the courts tonight and hit. Plus he was giving me some tips to improve my own game. The cool thing about it is that he said that he is going to help me get even better so that I can play in some tournaments in Hilton Head. So excited. Teaching and playing tennis, two of my favorite activities!

Survived Week 1

All is quite at Sweet Briar College as the first week of kids have gone home. It was a great week full of new experiences. Even though I have been teaching tennis for four years now, I found that working for Van Der Meer tennis is completely different. Pat and Dennis (founders) really keep their employees on their toes and expect the best.

I think that one of the neatest things that happened this week was with on the students that I had been closely working with, Peter. He was one of the weakest players that we had this week, but one with the best attitude. On Thursday all the kids were put into a group to play matches, but I had the opportunity to work with Peter one on one.

One thing that he really wanted to work on was his serve. It was one aspect that he had really been struggling with. We broke down the parts of the serve for around an hour. By the end of the hour he had vastly improved. He was so happy and smiled ever time that he made a serve in. The funny part of the story was that I tried to ask him if he wanted to work on other parts of his game, but he just wanted to keep serving. He was so grateful! It really made me realize why I love not just tennis, but teaching others to love it too!

Kat

First Paycheck

Hey everyone,

I know that I have already posted for today, but some exciting new. If you can't tell by the title of this post, I got my first paycheck!!! Hooray... on my way to not being a poor recent graduate!

Deja Vu

I thought that many may be curious about where exactly I have been leaving for the past couple of weeks. Here are some pictures of the lovely dorm that I am staying in. Plus as a added bonus I even have thrown in a picture of my dorm room. Its ok to laugh if you must.

Life in the dorm has not been a bad as I had pictured it. Even though it is a small room I rarely spend any time there. The room is just basically for sleeping because we are usually either out on the courts or doing some other type of activity. Plus its nice not have to worry about paying rent and utilities.

Its funny how life works. Anyone would think that after graduating college you would never move back to a dorm. A little deja vu from my freshman and sophomore years at Wittenberg. Oh well... the world keeps spinning round and round.

Here come the kids

Today is the first day of the junior camps here at Sweet Briar.  We have about 18 kids coming this week ranging from ages 10 to 17.  I'm looking forward to all the excitement that is going to be in the dorms for the rest of the summer.  I also had my first official staff meeting this morning. Steve, one of the head pros, told us what was going to beexpected of us for the rest of the summer. A little scary, but good to know what exactly I'm getting myself into!  Much more to come from Van Der Meer.

Kat

New opportunities are coming my way

Some exciting news from life in Virginia. I just found out that when I move down to Hilton Head, I have the opportunity to work in the management and communication office, mostly working on writing newsletters and press releases.  Even though I had an idea that some new opportunities were coming my way, I had no idea how quickly they were going to progress. I was talking to Pat Van Der Meer (one of the founders, small hint because of the last name) about writing and helping out immediately when I get down there. Even though at times I have had small doubts about taking this job, I know now that I need to take these small opportunities and just run with it! 

"No one ever attains very eminent success by simply doing what is required of him; it is the amount and excellence of what is over and above the required, that determines the greatness of ultimate distinction" 

A quote said to me by one of the Van Der Meer staff (pretty inspirational!)

Kat 

Much more then just tennis

The first week of my new job is almost complete. I really enjoyed the group of seniors that were here. They were so much fun to talk and play tennis with. The last night that they were here they had a party with lots of food and dancing. Of course I was one of the tennis pros that was cutting up a pretty mean rug on the dance floor. I think that I learned about six different dances throughout the night. It was so much fun. 

Much to come,

Kat

On the Court

Hey everyone, 

Yesterday was my first day on the court. A group called the AASSTC (Adult Aces Super Senior Tennis Club) arrived at Sweet Briar yesterday.  It is a group of seniors that have been coming here for years, ages ranging from 60 to 86! These people are a blast to talk too and really shows me that tennis is a sport that you can play and enjoy at any age!

Going to breakfast and then back on the courts, 

Kat