The season may be postponed, but Monica has hope
Monica is hoping that her first year on tennis was not her last.
Some might consider Monica Braun to be a late starter at her sport, while others could say she is courageous and hardworking to start something new and get to where she is now. However, she believes one should “just join whatever interests you! I thought that sports would be overly competitive and that people would be judgy but they’re not at all. If you want more comfort while joining a sport, try to get involved with a friend or get to know an existing player on the team. Remember that it’s mostly about having fun and being active.”
Braun has played for the Armijo Royals’ tennis team and hopes to continue this year as a senior. She joined the team as a junior. Besides tennis, she has played on the school’s badminton team since her sophomore year. “I wanted to play tennis after doing badminton in my sophomore year,” she said. “I figured a second sport would be fun and I thought tennis would be most closely related to badminton.”
“I’d say that sports may seem like they’re about beating or competing against others, but I’ve found it more to be about the progress I make as an individual. I think it’s more enriching to approach sports with a progress mentality.”
Her experience on the team has been nothing but fun and educational. “It’s incredibly fun to play on Armijo’s team. All of the girls are so nice and welcoming. We were always having fun, even on bad tennis-playing days.”
Her most memorable moment on the team was when they had extreme wind conditions during one of her first matches. “It was very frustrating,” she said.
Although she’s tried both singles and doubles, she prefers singles. She said, “You have the liberty to play how you want and can be more independent with your shots.”
To prepare for tennis, she communicates with the other players on the team. She believes that knowing your teammates helps a lot, and in her spare time, she improves her game by practicing.
While many athletes have motivators of their own, Braun is driven by improvement and having fun. Her biggest role model is her 22-year-old older brother. She said he inspires her a lot because “he did the IB Program as well and I watched him work through high school, into and throughout college, and now he’s a relatively successful, independent adult.” Other than her brother, she has role models on the court as well. “My favorite ATP tennis player would probably be Dominic Thiem or Kei Nishikori. For WTA, I’m obsessed with Naomi Osaka and Simona Haley.”
Playing tennis for Armijo is not all that Braun does. Her current favorite hobbies are playing electric bass, knitting, crocheting, and reading. She was also involved in the National Honors Society (NHS), although the International Baccalaureate (IB) program takes up most of her time. Still, she’s planning on joining the crochet club this year.
Braun said that she wishes that “Armijo had more distribution of funding for other higher-level classes, such as in-depth CompSci classes, more languages, different science or engineering subjects, and more.”
After high school, Braun is planning to attend college. “I would like to go to UCLA, UC Berkeley, or maybe some colleges out of state,” she said. She hopes to have a research-based career and become a biomedical engineer.
