Walking into Ms. Kristen Cochran’s room, Senior Emma Brown goes to her chair and begins focusing on the assignment at hand. She rests her head against the side of her hand and her eyes are fixed on her Chromebook. Brown is focused on her school work because to her, school is an important factor to being able to participate in tennis.

Emma Brown has been playing tennis since her freshman year of high school. Over those four years she has grown her love for this sport. Brown thinks that tennis has been her escape from school and work.

“Tennis means a lot because it’s a place where I can escape, hangout with friends and do something I’ve never done before,” Brown said.

Coach Jordan Groves believes that Brown had a great senior year and is always determined.

“She played at the No. 1 spot on our rank order for most of the season, which means that she had to play the toughest opponents from each team,” Groves said. “She played a lot of great matches against some great opponents. One of my favorite wins for her happened at the end of the season at Districts when she finally beat the top player from William Chrisman who had beaten her earlier in the year. It showed her improvement over the season, as well as her perseverance within the match.”

Alanis Cameron feels that Browns is the one who always keeps her teammates laughing and having fun due to her energy and fun personality.

“She’s very encouraging and she brings so much light to the team,” Cameron said. “She always included everyone and made sure everyone was okay.”

Brown has made a tough decision to not continue playing tennis in her future years but instead has wanted to mainly focus on school. Brown plans to carry on her education at Blue River for two years. She believes that beginning a sport at a young age can contribute to greater success. 

“My advice would be to start young and work hard by practicing and going out on the court whenever you can,” Brown said. “Asking older players for help and not being scared (also helps).”

Brown wipes a strand of hair out of her face and starts to type on her Chromebook. She waits for the clock to hit 2:20 p.m. so that she can go practice on the court where all the magic begins.