Hey! I’m Pritwik. I’m a normal teenage boy with an abnormal life. While every kid was getting ready to go to middle school, I was lacing up my shoes to step on the tennis court. I was very passionate about tennis, and over a period of time, that became my life. I started my homeschooling in 7th grade when I delved into intense tennis competition. I became well-known in the area as a great tennis player and I was picking up many trophies. I was looked at like a hero by many because of my success and my unconventional lifestyle. Admiration from younger kids brought out my self-pride.
When I was featured in a French magazine after getting wins in France, my popularity with my tennis-involved peers proliferated. But, without realizing it, I was absorbed into a self-contained bubble. As I entered into my teenage years, I still maintained the same 6 hours a day of physical training and fierce competition. Time went by and as the competition got tougher, I had to work harder. Inversely, however, my results started on a downward skid. Additionally, pressure from my coach, Sebastian Rivera, to improve my tennis ranking put a lot of stress on me. It reached a certain point where I felt that the game of tennis, which had once given me enjoyment, had become a burden on me. Thoughts of missing out on adolescent fun started invading my brain and questions of “Am I doing the right thing in my life?” constantly occupied my mind.
One day, I went to practice as always. I was, however, completely out of focus. Through a build-up of events, my coach got extremely angry at me and started yelling, saying that I was wasting my dad’s money and both of our time. He kicked me out of the court. I threw my racquet bag and stormed off. I went home and flopped onto my bed and cried, super angry at myself. My self-contained bubble had burst. Isolated and confused, I felt like my last 8 years of labor fell apart in front of me. The tennis that had made me feel like I was walking on the clouds now put me in the depths of darkness.
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