This week at the Rose Cafe we had the privilege of listening to Silviu Tanassoiu, the coach of Cornell Men’s Varsity Tennis Team talk about his career and how he motivates his team to thrive. Coach Tanassoiu spoke about “nourishing the perspectives” of his players, who have a lot on their plates as student athletes at an Ivy League university. Silviu’s pearls of wisdom as a player and coach seem to be directly applicable to all of us and he made many important points that can help us thrive in our student lives as well.
“Be grateful” – there are 48 ivy league men’s tennis players but there are billions of people in the world. Coach Tanassoiu constantly reminds his players to be thankful that they are here: they get to play tennis and go to such an amazing university. While most of us are not variety athletes, we are indeed very lucky to to attend such a prestigious college and have so many opportunities to learn and develop both intellectually and overall as individuals. Reminding ourselves of this certainly helps to maintain a positive outlook.
“Be intentional with your time” – Time is one of our most previous commodities, so we have to be sure to spend it wisely. Varsity tennis athletes have their entire schedule mapped out for them – including practices, class time, study time for each class, and of course breaks for meals. Only through very strict time management can you accomplish all the tasks you need to do during Cornell everyday life.
“Be nice to yourself” – We are all constantly confronted with expectations – our parents’, professors’, family’s, expectations of us regarding many different aspects of our lives. However, we must remember to be nice to ourselves and focus on the things we are able to control. Results and outcomes do not fall in that category. Adversity is the way we grow and discover all that we can do but we must remember not to beat ourselves up along the way.
Given Coach Tanavsoiu’s amazing record both as a player and as Cornell’s coach, his words and methods seem to be tried and true and I hope to apply these principles in my life as a Cornell student going forwards!