Imagine running through the hallway, reenacting a scene like you were in the middle of a warzone, and then going into the woods to hear the sound of gagging because some of your teammates had a dead, rotting deer carcass in their encampment. This is one of Sadie Koffman’s best memories from her junior year of high school.
“All students would call this a memorable experience: Mr. Brad Anderson’s AP World History class, the Age of Empires game.” Sadie said. “This taught me so many new skills I need for life while being disguised as this fun, extremely competitive, chaotic game. I met and worked with people I have known my whole life, but didn’t fully understand how amazing they were.”
Sadie skillfully navigates through her life participating in many different clubs, speaking Spanish, and volunteering, much like the difficult duties of managing an empire. She could be called multi-talented or just really, really busy.
One might think that being a part of one club is difficult, but Sadie spends her time participating in four clubs. She is the president and founder of FHC’s Community Club, Vice President of FHC’s Spanish Club, a participant in DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America), and a participant in the FH Charitable Investments Club. Now imagine doing all of these impressive things for school, trying to balance a social life, four AP classes, and playing tennis. Without Sadie’s dedication and determination, this would not be possible.
“The biggest challenge for me is the time I have to do it all,” Sadie said. “For me, volunteering and being social is what I love to do during my free time. However, with everything else I have going on, I feel like I have limited time to just have fun.”
One of the most precious things we have in life is time, but it also disappears the fastest. No matter how hard we try, a moment cannot be regained after it has passed. Every moment spent is a page in the diary of our life that will eventually disappear. As a result, our quality of life is influenced by the way we choose to spend our time. Sadie lives her life deliberately doing all the things she enjoys and appreciating the here and now to seize every opportunity because time is temporary.
Sadie is learning valuable life skills from her volunteering and how to put in the hard work early on. Many only learn how to use time management strategies and not procrastinate in college when it counts, but she is learning these while she is a teenager, which will benefit her greatly in the long run.
“Tennis has impacted me in many ways,” Sadie said. “I learned discipline, teamwork, collaboration, the game of strategy, and patience. However, the most impactful for me is always referring back to the basics. I’m a more-is-more person, and at times, that hurts me because I tend to overcomplicate and overanalyze situations. Tennis has taught me that if there’s something that needs to be altered, I can always resort back to the basics that I learned early on.”
The sport of tennis taught Sadie many life lessons she applies every day even when not playing. Discipline can be applied when she tries something new and it proves to be tricky. She is able to push herself and get it done. Teamwork is essential for all facets of life, whether it’s dealing with a tough boss or coworkers at a new job. Patience is another quality that will help Sadie in whatever she chooses to do with her life after high school.
“I will say [tennis] adds stress to my life,” Sadie said. “We miss a lot of school for tournaments and matches, and I’m always stressed about what projects, tests, or homework I’m going to have to make up when I get home. As well as make-up assignments, girl’s [tennis] season is in the spring which of course is the busiest, consisting of AP tests, final exams, prom, spring break, and for the rest of us struggling juniors, the SAT.”
Balancing tennis with schoolwork has become a never-ending act for Sadie. Between the tournaments, matches, and practices, it can seem like there is never enough time to catch up. The strain of having to keep up with assignments and prep for tests while staying on top of her athletic commitments can be paralyzing.
She’s always thinking ahead and always anticipating the workload she is going to have to sort through when she gets back home. It’s a fine balance of time, energy, and focus, but Sadie’s figured out how to cope and get through even when it feels like the deck is stacked against her. These skills will greatly apply later in life when she has many things going on at once.
“As of now, I’m hoping to go to either Carnegie Mellon University or [University of] Michigan to study behavioral economics,” Sadie said. “I’m looking at getting my master’s degree in decision sciences after finishing my undergrad, but I am also really excited to see where life takes me. I would also love to study abroad during college, travel the world, meet people, and try as many new things as I can.”
Sadie’s commitment to both tennis and her schoolwork is creating opportunities for a bright future. Her balance of those two worlds and the many clubs has already earned her the respect of her coaches and teachers alike, the kind of student-athlete who could likely run a small country by the time high school is up. Determined to keep pushing herself in the classroom, she’s got eyes on a future where this will all pay off. Her commitment shows that she is well on her way to mastering the art of juggling, one tennis match, and project at a time.
“Do things that make you excited to wake up the next day,” Sadie said. “It sounds kind of cheesy and cliche, but I found that when I was doing things to look good on a college application, I was exhausted from how it felt more like work. However, when I started doing things that I was passionate about, I began to be just as excited doing those things as I would have been if I hung out with friends, went shopping, or sat on my couch eating ice cream.”
