Northern Guilford VALEDICTORIAN
Sophia Strugnell by PATTI STOKES Sophia Strugnell applied the same discipline and commitment to her high school coursework as she has to excelling at tennis – and it Sophia Strugnell paid off. She graduated June 7 at the academic top of her class, with a GPA (grade-point average) of 4.76, and will play tennis at the collegiate level this fall. In a recent interview, Strugnell said being class valedictorian was never a goal of hers, but “it just kind of happened” because she wanted to take the highest-level classes she could in high school and do the best she could. “My main motivator was, if I could do something more challenging, I didn’t want to shy away from it,” she said. As a competitive tennis player with the USTA (U.S. Tennis Association), Strugnell said she missed a lot of school to travel to tournaments. “I’m pretty sure that in my freshman and sophomore years I had a total of 30 absences,” she said. “That
taught me a lot about time management… most of the tennis players I compete with do school totally online (even before COVID), because the schedule can be hard to manage. We practice four hours a day, so it just gets to be a lot.” Mindset is as important to succeeding in school as it is in tennis, Strugnell observed.
“Once you get to a certain level, the difference between the person who beats you and the person you beat oftentimes is more mental than anything else – it’s about your mindset, how dedicated you are, and how much you really want it. I think that definitely carried over to school. “Probably my competitive side did, too,” she added with a laugh. Tennis has been part of her life since early childhood, but she said it became more of “her sport” around seventh grade.
Her dad also enjoys tennis and encouraged her to work at it. For the last few years, she’s been playing year-round and frequently travels for tournaments. This August she’ll play in San Diego in the biggest tournament of the year.
“For my age group, if you win the tournament, you get a wild card into the U.S. Open. So, this is a pretty big deal,” she said. Last year, when she was traveling far from home and being scouted by college coaches, she felt the pressure and said she started breaking out in hives before matches. “But I’ve definitely gotten over that,” she said. “I think having the balance of knowing that all my eggs are not just in tennis really helped. When success in one place in your life becomes everything, it’s hard to handle failure.” The mental aspect of tennis can both create pressure and be appealing at the same time, she said. “You are out there all alone and you’re the only one to take responsibility for what happens,” she notes. “The other thing about tennis that’s a huge part of the game is that there is no time limit – so, no matter how far down you are, you can always come back – or no matter how far up you are, you can always lose.” The longest match she’s ever played lasted well over three hours.
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“That was in May, it was hot, and it seemed to last forever. I was just like, ‘oh my gosh, I really just left everything on the court,’” she said. Strugnell credits her mother, who she said had many interests growing up, though none were sports-related, with being a “huge supporter.”
ONWARD and UPWARD
“When I started playing tennis, she never said, ‘This is too much.’ She was always like, ‘OK, we’re going to do as much as we can,’ and that definitely carried over to school,” Strugnell said. “She didn’t let me forget about school. I knew I had to get things done because I had no choice.” To allow her to leave school early for tennis practice, Strugnell took a few classes each year online. So, when classes changed last spring to being 100% online, she said it wasn’t as much of a shock for her as it was for some students.
“I will say, though, there was a time last year I was struggling on the courts, because I didn’t have that other outlet (attending school in-person) or that change of scenery. I realized then how important it was to have a balance,” she said. It was the social part of school that she missed the most, she said – and seeing people smile in the grocery store, or giving someone a hug when she said goodbye. While she is strong in math, Strugnell said she’s interested in many topics. “I took AP Art History and really enjoyed that, which makes me really excited to think about living in New York City (she’ll be attending Columbia University this fall).” She’s not sure what she’ll major in, but says she’s leaning toward economics. “But I also know a lot can change, so to say I know exactly what I want to do is probably a little naive.”
