The weather is getting warmer, schools are finishing up and the tennis courts are getting busy…summer has arrived. That also means USTA Mid-Atlantic’s interns have joined our team for the summer! Meet our fabulous summer interns – Evan Charles, Jazmyn Lee, Maddy Sanders and Charlotte Rhoad. Be sure to say hi if you see them at an event this summer!

(If you or someone you know is interested in interning with USTA Mid-Atlantic in the fall, click here for information.)

Where do you attend school and what are you studying?

Evan: I’m getting my Master’s in Sports Leadership at VCU.

Jazymn: I’m in the Sport Industry Management Master’s program at Georgetown University.

Maddy: I go to Ohio University, majoring in Strategic Communications.

Charlotte: I’m studying English and Communications at George Washington.

Do you play tennis? If so, when did you start?

Evan: Both of my parents played tennis so I started the sport at a young age. I began learning the sport when I was 5 and started playing competitively when I was 10.

Jazmyn: I started playing tennis when I was around the age of 8 at our community park and recreation center. While there I participated in the youth tennis team to go on and win a few tournaments. Tennis has always been a recreational sport for me that I am pursuing more actively today.

Maddy: I haven’t played much tennis before, but I’m excited to try it out a bit this summer.

Charlotte: Yes, I have been playing since I was seven years old.

If you play tennis, what is your favorite thing about it? If you don’t play tennis, what is your favorite sport or activity and what do you love most about it?

Evan: My favorite thing about tennis is the physical and mental challenges of the sport.

Jazmyn: My favorite thing about tennis is that it is an individual sport that has a high emphasis on mental toughness. It’s really survival of the fittest at the professional level, but also learning valuable skills through mental toughness at the grassroots level.

Maddy: My favorite activity is running because it helps me clear my head and decompress.

Charlotte: I think my favorite thing about tennis is that it is an individual sport. This can be both frustrating and rewarding, although I believe the benefits to far outweigh the downfalls. However, since playing in college on the club team, I have also gotten a feel for the team aspect of tennis. I know that if I win, it was because I was better, yet I also get the support of a team.

What are you most excited about with the internship? What do you hope to learn or take away from this experience?

Evan: I am most excited about the opportunity to be involved in the promotion and execution of USTA events. From this experience, I hope to learn the inner-workings of the Mid-Atlantic Section and to take advantage of everything this internship program has to offer.

Jazmyn: I am excited to first learn a lot about USTA business to further understand how to prolong my career in tennis. Secondly, I really excited to be able to engage and learn the ways in which to target and engage the Hispanic community in the Mid-Atlantic region. Lastly, I am excited to learn from my experiences here as the Diversity and Inclusion intern, engage and learn with the staff and expand my skillset.

Maddy: I am excited for this internship because I can’t wait to gain experience on how an office is run and how each department works within a non-profit organization.

Charlotte: I am most excited about the environment that I believe the USTA possesses. I know each week will be a different experience, and at the same time I’ll be working very close to a sport that has been central to most of my life. I hope to take away an experience filled with diverse individuals and opinions as well as learn how to better collaborate with other people.

If you had the magic power of being a pro-athlete in ANY sport, which would you pick and why?

Evan: I would choose to play professional basketball in the NBA because it is a very popular and well-paid sport but does not have the same level of physical risks as the NFL or NHL.

Jazmyn: I would be Serena Williams because she is the greatest of all time! Her professional career as an athlete and philanthropic endeavors are truly commendable and inspirational to me and many others around the world. Her mental toughness and passion for the sport is remarkable and will forever be recognized in tennis history.

Maddy: If I could be a pro-athlete in any sport it would be in mixed martial arts because it breaks the stereotypes placed on women and I would want to use that chance to make a difference in women’s rights.

Charlotte: I am tempted to say a sport other than tennis, purely from a financial security standpoint. Tennis players only earn money if they win. However, if I was on a football team or a men’s basketball team, I would make money regardless, just for being a member of the team. However, I would have to pick tennis. The joy and sense of accomplishment I would get from being a pro tennis player would be worth it. Going back to the individual aspect of the sport, I cannot imagine that there is a greater feeling than winning a tennis match against one of the world’s greatest. And you get to keep that feeling of accomplishment with you for the rest of your life.

If you had to pick one cartoon character that best represents you, who would that be and why?

Evan: I would pick the Road Runner because I am an energized/active person and always on the move.

Jazmyn: It would be Princess Tiana because she is a goal-oriented person who strived to achieve the American Dream. She was able to focus on her most important goal of opening her own restaurant and worked very hard to attain it, and just so happened to find her prince in the process.

Maddy: The cartoon character that I feel like best represents me is the Disney princess, Mulan. I think she best represents me because she doesn’t let anyone tell her she can’t do something and follows her heart when making decisions.

Charlotte: I think the cartoon character that best represents me would be Snoopy from Peanuts. He is certainly loyal to Charlie Brown and in general a good-natured character. I believe that I am both loyal as well as always looking to do good in the world.

Also, Snoopy clearly has an imagination, always pretending to embody other people, such as a pilot or the iconic “cool” guy. I also think that I am a creative person with a vivid imagination. Finally, very little bothers Snoopy, and he tends to “go with the the flow” of things. I also do not let a lot of little things bother me, generally remaining calm and collected.