Sixteen-year-old Camille Blecher’s “perseverance” earned her a national award and a trip to the US Open.
Camille’s essay was selected as the best in the girls’ 16-and-under division of the 20th annual contest. She and her mother Kindra received a trip to New York City for three days and earned VIP status in the President’s Box as part of Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day powered by Net Generation, the annual youth celebration that precedes the US Open.
Camille works on her service technique.
The home-schooled junior was surprised when she heard she had won.
“I thought it highly unlikely that I would win,” she said. “But I’m thankful because God has a reason for my winning, and I’m looking forward to finding out what it is.”
Camille’s essay focuses on the importance of persevering when obstacles rear their ugly heads. The family lives in Meyerland, hard hit by Hurricane Harvey.
“My family and I faced many hardships, and the only way we survived was through perseverance and faith in God,” she said.
Her appreciation of perseverance also increased as she faced challenges on the tennis court–practicing and improving her skills “and learning to treat failures as chances to grow.”
HTA NJTL’s Brady Brazda and Sasha Cabral won honors in their age divisions in the USTA Texas essay contest. Brady, a senior at Kinkaid, won the boys 18-and-under division. In a previous year Brady won the boys 14-and-under division writing. Sasha, a seventh grader at Hamilton Middle School, penned the winning essay in the girls 12-and-under division.
The Winning Essay: By Camille Blecher
Victor Hugo once wrote, “Perseverance (is the) secret of all triumphs.” Such words proved true in my life since joining the Houston Tennis Association NJTL in 2016. Drawbacks in both tennis and my daily life brought a resolve to persist against the odds.
NJTL provided a wonderful opportunity for kids like me to learn a motivating sport that would otherwise be too expensive. Initially, I encountered more shortcomings than successes as I slowly progressed in my playing. After I joined the local Junior Team Tennis through NJTL, I found my skills as a tennis player woefully inadequate. At one of the NJUTL events during the holidays, even the “beginners” I played against easily triumphed over me. At that point, I could have chosen to remain a mediocre player or quit. Nonetheless, I resolved to persistently practice to improve my skills and learned to treat failures as chances to grow. At NJTL events I realized that tennis was not just a competitive sport; it was a sport where you learn from your opponent. I lost many matches, but I gained the ability to watch for skills I needed to work on or learn. In addition to learning tennis, I also developed friendships with other players of various ages, levels, and ethnicities. With NJTL I would not have been motivated to overcome the difficulties of learning tennis.
Applying perseverance in life experiences was not as easy as it was in tennis. Throughout my academic endeavors, achieving excellent grades came easily un Algebra I when working hard became necessary. In the end perseverance paid off. In August of 2017 Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston. My family and I faced many hardships, and the only way we survived was through perseverance and faith in God. Persevering through each life problem has not been a painless procedure, but the outcomes were worth the effort.
Out of the difficulties of life, perseverance was born. Such determination was cultured as I participated in NJTL’s tennis program. Now, I can sincerely say that “perseverance (is the) secret of all triumphs.”
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