A tennis racket, bright yellow tennis balls, and a low net separates opponents from each other. A ball is thrown in the air, and hit downward in a quick, swift snap of an arm. The loud “pop” sound of the ball making contact with the racket echoes across the court. Senior co-captain Kristine Park moves left, right, forward, and backwards around the court, her movement constantly in sync with the path of the ball.
“I’ve been on varsity tennis my four years of high school, and this year I am co-captain with senior Smita Jain,” Park said.
“I love being able to not only be on a team with one of my closest friends, but share the role of being captains together too,” Jain said. “Kristine and I have been playing on varsity tennis together since sophomore year, but our friendship goes way back to elementary school.”
Most people aren’t born professional sport players. It takes time, practice, and dedication to achieve a higher level of ability. Park has been playing tennis for seven years now, and dedicates many days a year to bettering her performance.
“Honestly, my parents sort of pushed me to play tennis,” Park said laughing. “I went through stages where my parents really pushed me to play the sport, which caused me to not like it so much, to periods where they didn’t pressure me too much. That’s when I really started loving the sport.”
It’s hard not to be impressed with the tennis players’ hand eye coordination while watching them play. The ball shoots over the net in a blink of the eye, and all you hear is a “whack” and then it’s back on the other side.
“I do want to continue tennis in college, but not so competitive. Most likely I’ll play club tennis at the college I end up at,” Park said.
This past weekend, the varsity tennis team went to sectionals to play and hopefully qualify for state. Normally, West plays against very competitive teams, but this year, the teams are easier.
“I was really hoping to make it to state this year because the teams were less competitive than past years, and I did!” Park exclaimed with a big grin on her face. “I’m very excited to compete and see how I score.”
“I’m really glad I got to spend these past years on the court with Kristine,” Jain said. “She’s not just great on the courts, but in the classrooms as well.”
STEM Inquiry Research, or more commonly called SIRS, is a science class taught by JulieAnn Villa where students are able to conduct their own experiments having to do with different branches science. Students involved in SIRS are commonly found in the STEM lab, the large room located on the third floor that stretches from the staircase to the first set of doors.
“I was accidently put into SIRS, but I found it really interesting being able to work by yourself and manipulate your experiment,” Park said.
Freshman year, Park worked on a project that dealt with the different types of salts that were used on the roads, and how they affected plants. Sophomore year, Park studied the relationship between corals and algae. Junior year, Park worked with Anne McArthy on cancer cells, or more precisely, telemeres.
“Neither of us planned on having a partner for our project because normally we work individually, but I think it worked out very well and definitely learned a lot from her,” McArthy said.
“This past summer, I was able to expand my experiment by working at Northwestern,” Park said. “My main goal was to try and find some proof that telemeres were the main cause of cancer cells. It was a really fun experience working at a college on my own ideas.”
Being a senior, Kristine not only has to juggle tennis practice and her studies every day, but she also has to do college applications and everything that goes along with those.
“I do want to continue studying science in college, but I’m not really sure which field I want to go into, maybe ophthalmology,” Park said. “My top choice right now is Rice University in Texas. I can just see myself there, plus it’s warm, unlike Chicago,” Park said, laughing.
