It was wonderful to hear Couch Tanasoiu speak at last week’s café. Although his talk was advertised as being mostly about tennis, he made it relevant even to people like myself, who know nothing about the sport. His points about managing time and dealing with adversity were particularly applicable to all Cornellians. I also appreciated that Coach Tanasoiu feels his players need to recognize how unique their opportunities are. He emphasized how few people get to play tennis in the Ivy League by saying that it’s more likely that a person would win the lottery, which I thought was very powerful.

His description of the recruitment process for Cornell Tennis was also fascinating. I knew that coaches spend a lot of time tracking players, but I had no idea how much goes into bringing quality players to Cornell. I liked that Coach Tanasoiu values attitude and personality fit over pure talent, and I appreciated his story about how he reached out to a mother who had been overlooked throughout the recruitment of her son. He seemed to be not only passionate about his sport and his team, but also impressively honest and humble, and I’m glad that I had the opportunity to learn from him.