It’s still dark outside when sophomore Sowmyalakshmi Gopalakrishnan wakes up. She dresses quickly, in a rush. Tennis practice starts at 6:30 a.m. and she still has to study for her test in Pre-AP chemistry. There’s no time to eat breakfast this morning, it’s already 5:45. She woke up late today.

6:30 a.m. comes and goes, the minutes filled with grueling exercises and countless minutes of swinging and hitting, some missing and a lot of sweating. She goes back home to shower, change and collect her school work. By nine o’clock she’s back at school and in her seat, ready to work. 

As the day passes; filled with tests, quizzes, lectures and lessons, Gopalakrishnan prepares herself for the games she has after school.  “At the beginning of the day, I really have to concentrate on my work and at the end of the day sometimes we have games after school so to switch from that school mindset to gameday mindset it’s really quick,” Gopalakrishnan said.

Gopalakrishnan started playing tennis four years ago and has been involved in the sport ever since. “Well at first I just needed an athletics credit for the seventh grade but then I started enjoying it so I’m still taking it now and I plan to take it through high school,” Gopalakrishnan said.

Playing sports all four years of high school can open up opportunities for college scholarships or admission. “I do plan to take tennis in college if I have more free time but it completely depends on what I do,” Gopalakrishnan said. “I want to major in medicine but I don’t know what specific aspect of medicine yet.”

Gopalakrishnan’s electives, besides tennis, are Pre- AP French II and health science. She gives effort in school and takes advanced classes, despite her already busy schedule. 

“Fourth period, [I] practice again,” Gopalakrishnan said. “After practice, I go home, shower and then I just do homework until I go to bed. But on game days [I] have to wake up even earlier to do homework because the games can go on a pretty long time.”

Gopalakrishnan is taking all of the advanced courses that she can, which means more work to be done outside of class. “I usually just eat and work,” Gopalakrishnan said. “Sometimes I just skip dinner completely. Despite the hours of sleep lost and her time for eating cut short, Gopalakrishnan continues to look forward to her future, working toward her dreams of college and career.