- April 2017
Personal Statement
"Work until your idols become your rivals."
This gives me the power to wake up every morning smiling, looking forward to life’s challenges and adventures. It's hard to always stay positive, to imagine myself a champion or an influential person, especially when I feel like I keep failing. Sometimes I ask myself: Why do I put in so much effort? I had to give up so many things as a child in order to accomplish my dreams and now, I just keep failing. It's heartbreaking, but I keep my hope alive, because I was given a reason to carry on.
While that may seem a little extreme, I was never the type of child with textbook innocent dreams. I didn't enjoy playing with dolls or putting on my mother's high heels. Ever since I was little I wanted to live my way, and I did so, much to the concern of my parents. I remember one of my trips to Bucharest. During an idyllic afternoon in the park, I overturned the boat smack in the middle of the lake shortly after my father gave me the opportunity to paddle. It was such an embarrassing moment for him, whereas I couldn’t stop giggling. I posed for the people on a nearby bridge, who were laughing and taking photos. Finally, we were saved by another boat and deposited on solid ground, to my mother's heart-stopping surprise upon solving the equation of our watery appearances.
As exasperated as she was in the face of my earlier shenanigans, my mother was always my number one supporter. When I couldn’t find my place anywhere, buzzing to and fro with a clear surplus of energy, she encouraged me when I met the incredible person who would radically change my path in life. 85, motivated and self-confident, with a je-ne-sais-quoi which translated into a charming, absolutely unique personality, Mr. V was the first to totally trust me and my game on the court.
He took my blurry ray of hope and converted it into something significant. Aged 8, I started to compete, working four hours every day with my coach. No matter my mistakes, he never stopped believing that sooner or later all our work would pay off. Then, one summer day during the break before fifth grade, a tragic event befell my family. My sister died. My world stopped spinning.
I will never forget that day, how my father told me, how the shock followed me for such a long time. I can’t describe that hurt in words: there are too few and too many at the same time. But at the end of the month she died, I won a big competition that I dedicated to her. I was unstoppable, strength hardened on my spirit, because I knew she would have been proud of me.
Sometimes, I think that nothing is predictable, that we all have a final destination, or a big goal that we should accomplish, but it’s within our power to decide the end. For a long time I considered that tennis means to be fit and hit the ball right, but lately I have discovered that this sport is a mental game. I think that we all do the same in our daily routine, we actually see the surface of something, we can’t touch the core of it until we become addicted to that thing. Passion means everything. If you have passion, you own the world. If you have a reason to continue, then why would you stop there? God offers us signs and opportunities. If He decided that you are the one, then work hard and keep dreaming because He will never be wrong. This is what I do now. I fall down seven times and stand up eight. I know that success is hard to achieve, but I also know that I’m not a quitter. I can do it.
