Photo by Erin Nelson.
Vestavia Hills’ Cindy Jiang returns the ball in a match against Hoover’s Laci Pyron during the Class 7A tennis sectionals at the Hoover Metropolitan Complex on April 12.
Cindy Jiang started playing tennis around 11 years ago and fell in love with the sport.
Since then, she’s managed to balance being a quality tennis player while also maintaining her academic success, which has earned her the Bryant-Jordan Award, a scholarship program that rewards Alabama student-athletes for their academic success and achievements in overcoming obstacles.
“It feels really amazing,” Jiang said. “I’m really grateful to have this award. I think it shows all of the hard work that I’ve done throughout my high school career.”
The Bryant-Jordan Award is divided into two categories: scholar-athlete and achievement. Jiang earned an award in the scholar-athlete category for her stellar academic performance.
“She has put a lot of time and effort into being very diverse,” said Timarie Fisk, tennis coach at Vestavia Hills High School. “She’s on the math team, which requires you to go to school early/ She’s in choir, so she does that fine arts aspect. As an art teacher, I love when kids make time for that, but it’s something you have to make time for and it’s hard, especially with her and her academic achievements of having a high GPA and things like that, it’s hard to do extracurriculars such as athletics.”
Along with being on the math team throughout high school and singing in the school’s honor choir for two years, Jiang has also been in organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and Eco Club. She said it’s taken time and practice for her to balance school, tennis and her other activities.
“I find a lot of enjoyment in tennis and I find a lot of enjoyment being in school and doing different activities at school, which is why I think I’m able to stay motivated when I get into stressful situations,” Jiang said.
Jiang said she loves tennis because she’s the one that’s in control of the ball.
“When I’m playing singles, I’m the only one that makes the decision and I have control. I think it makes me unique and it makes every tennis player unique because they have different thought processes when they’re hitting the ball and they have different play styles. That’s what I really like about tennis,” she said.
Fisk said Jiang has the ability to maintain focus throughout a match and is able to successfully execute game plans and adapt during the match depending on her opponent’s play style.
She also has the ability to keep her composure no matter how she’s doing, Fisk said.
“It doesn’t matter if she’s winning or losing, or playing a tough match or not a tough match, she has the same persona with her,” Fisk said. “She remains calm and relaxed. She doesn’t really show emotion. She obviously smiles when she comes off the court but, in general, you would never have a clue of what the score is if you hadn’t kept track of it.”
Jiang will be attending Auburn University this fall to pursue a computer science degree, she said.
She doesn’t have much experience in computer science but it’s something she’d like to learn about, Jiang said.
Her interest stems from her parents, who are both computer engineers, she said.
“I think I’ll really enjoy it and I think it fits in with the skills that I have, so hopefully I will do well,” Jiang said.
