Personal Statement
Hello! my name is Alexis Dimanche (this means Sunday in English) and I am currently 17 years old and living in France. I was born in New Orleans LA from US and European parents. I like Europe but I miss the American way of life and culture. I would love to go back to the USA to study sciences and playing college tennis would be a dream. This would allow me to combine sports and studies, something that is hardly possible in France. With my "2/6" ranking, I position myself in the top 80 1998-born French players. I am sure that I would be a good fit for many teams: In addition to my good academic and tennis levels, I am a very joyful, yet serious and hard working person. I am dedicated to succeed in the classroom (this is my priority - I intend to study sciences) as well as on the court.
I am currently studying at the "Centre International de Valbonne", a school located in Sophia Antipolis near Nice on the French Riviera, where I receive a bilingual education. I speak and write fluently in French, English, and German (my mother is German) and I am currently learning Spanish. I obtained my 9th grade diploma (the "Brevet") with a 17.8/20 grade average and I typically stand in the top 3 of the class. I also lived and went to school in Canada for 6 months (2010) when my dad was working as a visiting research professor in a university there. I have been brought up in a multicultural environment and we have regularly been traveling internationally. I have no doubt that I would easily adapt to college life in the USA.
I have been playing tennis since I was a little boy. We are a tennis family. On average, I play about 60 matches per year. In 2013, my teammate and I won the "départemental" team championship (regional level). In 2014, I was the number one player of the Men's Regional team and helped the team move up from division 2 to 1. If tennis is my passion, I am a versatile athlete. I also play badminton for school (our school team went to the national championship last year), and I enjoy playing soccer, swimming, running, and golfing. I can concentrate well and focus on learning new activities and skills easily. In addition, we often go with my parents to the Alps for skiing in the winter and hiking/climbing in the summer. I guess this is our approach to cross-training! Although tennis is an individual sport, I enjoy the team aspect, and I must say that I really enjoy playing doubles. In fact, my dad always wanted me to become a complete player, so I have learned to volley and go up to the net where I feel at ease.