{"id":4222,"date":"2013-02-17T13:58:42","date_gmt":"2013-02-17T18:58:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/?p=4222"},"modified":"2013-02-17T13:58:42","modified_gmt":"2013-02-17T18:58:42","slug":"meredith-mcgrath-visits-dhs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2013\/02\/meredith-mcgrath-visits-dhs\/","title":{"rendered":"Meredith McGrath visits DHS"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Professional tennis player and DHS alumna Meredith McGrath speaks to student athletes on Feb. 4 in the gold gym. McGrath expressed how working hard, taking risks, following dreams and making good choices impact an athlete. Photo by Karina Zanyk McLean<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Monday, Feb. 4, former professional tennis player and spokesperson for the Dow Corning Tennis Classic, Meredith McGrath, visited DHS to speak with aspiring student athletes. McGrath was in town for the tournament which was held from Feb. 2 to Feb 10. She spoke at many events and conferences over the week-long competition.<\/p>\n

McGrath grew up in Midland, attended DHS, and competed on the school\u2019s tennis team before graduating and moving on to Stanford University. She attended Stanford for one year and then moved on to become a professional player.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been about 20 years since I\u2019ve been back in this gym,\u201d McGrath said upon entering the school. \u201cBeing back brings so many good memories: pep rallies, basketball games, and so many amazing times from right here.\u201d<\/p>\n

McGrath came to speak with DHS\u2019s athletes about hard work, risks, following dreams and making good choices. She spoke from personal experiences as well as sharing success stories of others such as Herbert Henry Dow.<\/p>\n

As a junior and senior in high school, McGrath was the number one junior player in the entire world, facing dreams of advancing further and winning Wimbledon.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a tennis player, Wimbledon is the tournament of the year,\u201d McGrath said.\u00a0 \u201cIt holds the most tradition, and most tennis players view it as the one to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the path to fulfill her goal, McGrath was injured, weeks before Wimbledon. She decided to push through, a decision that she admitted likely caused the end of her career. She made it all the way to the semi-finals of Wimbledon, before her injury prevented her to play at her best.<\/p>\n

\u201dLooking back, the smart decision would have been to get an airplane, go home, get an MRI, see a doctor and take a couple months off,\u201d McGrath said. \u201cBut I didn\u2019t. I thought, I\u2019m here at Wimbledon and this is my dream. I was playing unbelievably well so I thought I would push ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

McGrath highlighted that the moral of her story was that she took a risk to get what she wanted. Although it was a decision that risked the remainder of her career, McGrath admitted she would never take it back.<\/p>\n

As well as taking risks, McGrath shared stories of bad risks and decisions as well.\u00a0 In high school, she was picked up by the cops for underage drinking. This consequence caused her to think how this would affect her tennis career and future.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy immediate concern was ‘Oh, God, my parents are going to kill me’,\u201d McGrath said. \u201cThat didn\u2019t happen, however, my next concern was what\u2019s this going to do to my high school eligibility, am I going to be able to play on the tennis team? Lastly, my concern was, is this going to affect my college career?\u201d<\/p>\n

Another point that McGrath emphasized was the importance of academics in her career. After only attending Stanford for a year, she promised herself she would return and complete her degree.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy parents made it very clear to me, school came first, tennis came right afterwards,\u201d McGrath said. \u201cMy first $150,000 in earnings, I marked that as my return to school fund, put it in an account and didn\u2019t touch it.\u201d<\/p>\n

After finishing her tennis career, McGrath returned to Stanford, finished her degree and now works as a business owner and head of many corporations.<\/p>\n

Students who attended the speech were able to speak to and talk with the player.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was cool to know that McGrath was a just a normal person like the rest of us kids in Midland and she was able to achieve something so incredible,\u201d junior Julie Cross said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Monday, Feb. 4, former professional tennis player and spokesperson for the Dow Corning Tennis Classic, Meredith McGrath, visited DHS to speak with aspiring student athletes. McGrath was in town for the tournament which was held from Feb. 2 to Feb 10. She spoke at many events and conferences over the week-long competition. McGrath grew […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":4313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[83,338,337,340,339],"class_list":["post-4222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-3-sports","tag-dhs","tag-mcgrath","tag-meredith","tag-player","tag-tennis"],"yoast_head":"\nMeredith McGrath visits DHS - UPDATE ONLINE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2013\/02\/meredith-mcgrath-visits-dhs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meredith McGrath visits DHS - UPDATE ONLINE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On Monday, Feb. 4, former professional tennis player and spokesperson for the Dow Corning Tennis Classic, Meredith McGrath, visited DHS to speak with aspiring student athletes. McGrath was in town for the tournament which was held from Feb. 2 to Feb 10. She spoke at many events and conferences over the week-long competition. 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