Xudong Sun - Senior Statement

“I will say it again: Rejoice!”

Xudong has just joined us this year. I didn’t know him too well in his first years at the school, because being a middle school teacher prevents me from getting to know too many new high schoolers. I was surprised that he wanted to join for his senior year, and a little worried. New players sometimes upset team chemistry. But not Xudong. I found out really early that he is a good-natured teammate, well-loved by his classmates.

And that has been my experience with Xudong as well. He is a player and person that seems to be filled with joy. My favorite memory of Xudong this season was at Concord, when he got to play his first singles match. He won, and was so excited he ran up from their lower courts to tell me. He was smiling from ear to ear. It made my day. And the varsity was in the middle of a tense contest, but Xudong’s joy helped remind me of what is important.

Like Jim, Xudong has also been a model of improvement for our younger players. At the beginning of the year, he had trouble getting a serve in and could not control a backhand. Yesterday during practice, he sizzled a backhand cross court in his drill against Cameron, and continues to make progress on his serve. In fact, yesterday he told me that he is epic, he is so good that he is going to beat Caleb soon and take the #1S spot. His rapid improvement has simply come from putting time into the game. He’s been out in the morning with Jim and is often hitting after practice as well.

He is another player that just makes the team smile as well. In drills or long practices, he often has something fun to say. Or he gets very excited when he does something right. Despite missing out on a couple of years of tennis, he is right with us as we cheer our teammates on to victory. In fact, after his joyous Concord win, he began cheering for Tyson and Will to finish off the varsity win for us. And so, he is very appreciated!

I am grateful for Xudong, his excitability and improvement and the way our team can follow that.

Verse: Psalm 28:7
The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults... and I give thanks to him.