Tennis Central is pleased to announce Austin Noll as the winner of The Dr. Charles R. Appel Memorial Tennis Scholarship!
The scholarship is to be used towards post-secondary educational expenses and award will be paid directly to the college/university the Scholarship Winner will be attending.
Austin’s letter to Tennis Central exhibited qualities we very much appreciated in a scholarship applicant:
How has being a member of your school’s tennis team affected your overall high school experience?
The decision to join the tennis team in high school has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. Being of the tennis team has allowed me to meet a lot of new people that I would probably not have made a relationship with. Through these relationship opportunities, I have created more friends. This has made my high school experience more enjoyable and is something that I will treasure for the rest of my life. I have always looked forward to the tennis season because I have created valuable relationships with my teammates, opponents, and coaches. One thing that I extremely thankful for is the relationship with my coach, Mr. Todd Snyder. I would consider Coach Snyder like my mentor because whenever I was stressed out or facing a difficult decision, I would go to him and as for his opinion. He has always been there for me and I couldn’t thank him enough for that. He alone has improved my high school experience because I always had someone to talk to.
What life lessons have you learned by being a member of your school’s tennis team that you can apply to your life off the tennis court?
One life lesson that I have learned by joining the tennis team is that idea of communication. This is important in tennis because the two or four players have to manage the score and call shots in or out. Through communication, the players on the court has to talk and explain what the call or score is. This lesson will be used off the court because I will always have relationships with other people and in these relationships, I will have to talk to and understand the other person. Besides that lesson, tennis taught me the value of loyalty and trust through not cheating. In tennis, the players have to officiate themselves; therefore, it makes it easier to cheat the opponent out of a point. This teaches trust because you have to trust the other player to call a fair game. It also teaches loyalty because you have to develop a trusting relationship with the opponent and be loyal to your word. If you don’t, the match will probably get cancelled. This important to life because the traits of trust worthy and loyalty are two positive characteristics towards creating good character.
What future goals do you hope to achieve during your post-secondary education?
After high school, I plan to attend and have been accepted as an early decision into Lebanon Valley College. At Lebanon Valley, I am majoring in Actuarial Science. Also at Lebanon Valley, I am considering joining the boys tennis team or the boys soccer team. I am going to major in actuarial science because I have always been a math and numbers guy. While at Lebanon Valley, I pian to take advantage of their exemplary internship program. Through hard work and focus, I hape to graduate Lebanon Valley with a degree. Besides the degree, I hope to have passed multiple actuarial tests to improve my rank in my occupation. Through this better rank, I hope to land a valuable job.
Congratulations, Austin!