During sixth period, two players line up across a pingpong table. The distinctive ringing sound of pingpong balls fills the room. After a thunderous smash, a chorus of laughter rings out of the open doorway, schoolwork temporarily forgotten.
Devita Smith, the project assistant in the high school dean’s office, is located just next to the senior lounge. Ever since she began working in the office in 2021, she has noticed swarms of seniors walking past her door to play pingpong.
“They start at 7:30 in the morning,” Ms. Smith said, “so they’re here early and throughout the day.”
All around the school, in the senior lounge, cafeteria, and even classrooms, seniors have picked up pingpong as a fun hobby and a continued U-High tradition.
Senior David Smith is the president of the Ping-Pong Club, which meets in physics teacher Francisco Saez’s room every Thursday during lunch. The club offers a place for both casual matches and occasional tournaments.
David was first introduced to the sport as a child when he began to play it with his father.
“It started as something me and my dad would do over the summer,” David said. “I believe over COVID we got a pingpong table, and we would play each other a bunch. I found a love for the sport.”
As the years passed, Ms. Smith noticed that this senior class played more tournaments than the former seniors.
“I think there’s more pingpong tournaments this year because I hear more of them competing than I did before,” Ms. Smith said.
Senior Oliver Go, who enjoys playing pingpong with his friends in the senior lounge, was inspired to take up pingpong after observing last year’s seniors playing.
“I think it’s just kind of become tradition,” Oliver said.
Similarly, in Ping-Pong Club, many of last year’s regulars are now graduated seniors.
“Last year the club was really popular,” David said. “It was made up of mostly seniors, so it was difficult to sort of regain that level of popularity. But I think there have been times where we have exceeded the number of people we had last year.”
The club, which has existed since before the coronavirus pandemic, was not originally advised by Mr. Saez. He assumed the role after the former adviser retired. Ever since he became the adviser, Mr. Saez has been playing with students during club periods.
Through practice over the years, he has found that one of the best ways to increase one’s skill in pingpong is through experience with matches.
“You have to reflect on how you play if you want to improve,” Mr. Saez said.
Mr. Saez also lets his students play pingpong during some of his physics classes, which are available to juniors and seniors. David and his peers have found pingpong a nice, active hobby.
“It’s a great way to pass the time. I love playing other people, learning new things about the sport, improving my technique,” David said, “and overall I just enjoy it.”
Maya Pytel, a member of Xiaoli Zhou’s senior advisory, was a sophomore when they purchased their pingpong table using their advisory funds. She finds pingpong a nice way to destress during busy school days.
“I think that a lot of times we’re very stressed when we’re at school, and it’s kind of just a nice, easy way to take a break for, like, 5 or 10 minutes,” Maya said. “It’s a nice little break from, you know, the constant pressure you have at Lab.”
