It’s 6 a.m. on a Monday, and senior Adam Tang’s alarm breaks the silence. Struggling to open his eyes, thoughts of squash and joyful team memories lift him up. Grabbing his racket from one side of the room and his bookbag from the other, he heads to his early morning practice.
Adam balances his dedication to the sport with his passion for academics, being a determined leader and forming meaningful connections in both categories.
Adam started playing squash when his passion for tennis, which he played since he was 6, began to wane.
“There was a period of my life where tennis was really just dreadful and boring,” he said. “I will say that joining Lab’s tennis team has really made it a lot more fun, but squash was sort of a new excitement of a new sport that I really enjoy.”
Squash has now become Adam’s stress reliever.
“Squash is definitely one of the ones that relaxes me more than it makes me anxious. Even though Mondays are so early or Wednesdays are so late, I really look forward to it when it is Sunday night or during the school time on Wednesday,” he said referring to his squash practices.
The love for the sport complements his academic interests in astrophysics.
“It started from my passion of physics, which was all the way in middle school when I was doing Science Olympiad,” Adam said. “It was just an area of study that really interested me and I started doing physics competitions and just physics in general, starting like around eighth grade.”
Matt Martino, who had Adam as a student last year in AT Physics II, appreciated such passions in physics.
“He’s a very studious, conscientious student. So he’s really good about putting in the time to think about complicated things and making them make sense to himself,” Dr. Martino said. “I would say self-motivated and driven as opposed to motivated due to external sources.”
Dr. Martino also expressed positive sentiments for Adam’s personality.
“He’s got a great understated sense of humor, which I appreciate mostly. He’s not overly flashy. He is understated in his humor and in how he approaches things,” he said.
Adam brings such lovable characteristics into squash as well, fostering a warm environment.
“I think the environment that we create in the squash team is very welcoming,” he said. “Lot of times people are quiet, and I don’t really like that quiet style, so I started talking with them. I think in a school team environment, it’s a lot easier to just not force relationships, but they sort of just grow.”
Adam believes playing squash helps him stay connected with a broad group of people.
“Playing with each person in a closed environment and because you’re in a box, I think playing matches with someone, even with opposing teams, it’s very easy to get to know them,” he said. “To create more friendships than, like, opponents. I know other players on the other team, just because it’s certainly more relaxed.”
It’s 4 p.m., and after a long practice Adam sits down at his desk ready to bring equal passion and determination to his school work.
