Dearest Wonderful Fans,
As I am writing this blog, we are on a plane to Phoenix, Arizona for our spring break trip. We are all so grateful that we’ll be in a wonderfully warm and sunny area so that we can shed our pasty selves and come back to campus in a week, flaunting flattering tans. In between exciting activities that I’m sure Jamie has planned for us, we will be further acclimatizing to outdoor conditions, ending the trip with two dual matches against Arizona State and California. Spring break is always one of the most fun trips of the season so we’re all very excited to see what the week holds in store for us.
In the last two blogs I introduced to you our two amazing freshmen— Big Ray and Han. In this blog, I’d like to introduce you to our third and final newcomer of this year— Nadine Fahoum (or purely Fahoum as she is known to us). In her few months at Duke, Israeli-born Fahoum has brought a diverse array of essential dimensions to this team. Tennis enthusiasts always say that the two most important characteristics that a tennis player needs in order to succeed are mental strength and heart. Fahoum is one of the most passionate players that I have ever come across. She is not only out there to play a good game of tennis and win, but she is also out there to play the game that she loves. No matter how insignificant a match may be, Fahoum’s heart is always in it. There is no doubt that everyone enjoys winning. But Fahoum also loves the fight and this is why it is such a pleasure to watch her out there.
An important thing to note about Fahoum is the fact that she is an international, transfer student. Not a lot of us can relate to this. I can assure you that this can make entering a closely-knit team such as ours a lot more challenging. However, from the first day that Fahoum set foot on Duke’s campus, one would think that she had always been a part of our team. Her spunk and fiery personality make her an outstanding teammate, and above all, an amazing friend. Whether one needs advice or just someone to talk to, Fahoum will stop what she’s doing and direct her full attention to you. Additionally, she is someone that you can trust with anything. I know that she has earned our respect for her ability to mediate any conflicts without betraying any trusts.
Evidently, Fahoum can be a mature and serious person when that is what is required. However, she can be a total goof as well. One thing that Fahoum will never live down within our team is her denial of the fact that she has an Israeli accent. Try and tell her that, and she’ll deny it with a heavily accented “Don’t tok tu me.” I cannot describe to you how entertaining this is. Additionally, Fahoum has an “interesting” music taste. On our team, it is often described as flat out atrocious. Personally, I do like some of the songs that Fahoum likes, with the emphasis on “some.” But generally, her music cannot be described as our team’s “songs of choice.” Before a practice about two weeks ago, Fahoum sent out a mass text saying that she had a really good, new playlist to play during our practice. We all were really excited, because seldomly does anyone create a playlist for the sole purpose of practicing to it. As practice began, so did the first songs. By the fifth song we had all had enough. Not only had none of us heard these songs before, but also some of them were not even in English. These instances of Fahoum’s international flavor and humor bring us so many laughs and we all love her for it.
GO FAHOUM!
Go Duke!
Yours in Tennis,
Monica Gorny and the rest of DWT.
No comments:
Post a Comment