The best athletes, musicians, actors and more, start with a passion. The instances where people have to leave their passions behind can range from a mix of emotions.
At Coppell High School, the senior class every year goes through this with their extracurricular activities.
Senior tennis player Anishka Vishwanatham experiences this. As a member of the Coppell tennis team, she shows her energy, feeding off of the good vibes.
“She’s a really enthusiastic teammate and she’s always the first person to hype everybody up, she’s always the loudest on the team,” sophomore Anna Hartley said.
In general, the seniors have spent almost every day of the last four years with their activity’s people. Whether it is football, volleyball, band, choir or tennis, they see these people quite often.
In these activities, students create bonds and connections. They make friends that are as close to family, creating moments to cherish.
These bonds and connections can be a hard thing to leave for many seniors, including Vishwanatham.
This can be especially hard after spending the past four years with the same people. The daily routine of seeing the people you spend the most time with is changed and can be different to adapt to.
“I am going to miss my team a lot and mostly the environment tennis has given me,” Vishwanatham said. “It was kind of like a space to let go of all my schoolwork and focus on something else.”
Not only does Vishwanatham feel the emotions about leaving her sport but so do her friends and teammates. They have created many memories together and having to see her leave may be hard.
“I feel sad knowing that she and a lot of the other seniors are going to leave and I am going to miss her,” freshman Palkin Gangwal said. “Her leaving leaves an impacting legacy on the people she has played tennis with everyday.
Sophomore Chloe Ahmad agrees with Gangwal about the last legacy Vishwanatham will leave. Chloe greatly cherished her time with Vishwanatham.
“I feel sad because I was able to become really close with her this year and that I won’t be able to spend more time with her when she leaves,” Ahmad said. “I had a lot of fun laughing and enjoying playing tennis with her. I’m really going to miss our talks.”
Another person Vishwanatham has spent almost everyday with is Coppell coach Alysa Noonan. Student athletes spend a lot of time with their teammates but what may not be recognized enough is the time they spend with their coaches. She helped her grow and achieve her goals in tennis.
“I feel like the coaches are really supportive and they help us train and we have the most fun practices,” Vishwanatham said. “I’m going to miss the coaches.”
Noonan has left an impact on Vishwanatham and has made her love and enjoy tennis. The effect a coach has on a player can be very impactful.
Just as much as Noonan has left an impact on Vishwanatham, an impact has been set on Noonan herself by Vishwanatham.
The parting may be hard just as it may be for any coach to student relationship. Seeing a player grow into the player they have always wanted to be can cause a flood of emotions.
“We’ve already had a full year together and we built so many memories and just seeing her grow up until this point definitely makes me sad,” Noonan says. “It’s exciting to see her ready to take on this next step.”
The leaving of seniors can be emotional but senior traditions can help lighten up the mood. Senior traditions are popular for CHS students and athletes. The traditions they do can create long-lasting memories. A tradition the Coppell tennis team does is banners.The banners are outside of the tennis courts. They display a picture of the senior players to recognize their hard work in the past four years.
“I think my favorite would be the banner outside of the tennis center because ever since I was a freshman I’ve always looked up to the seniors who were on the banners,” Vishwanatham said.
Seniors have many “lasts” they get to experience. For Vishwanatham, it is tennis.
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