The Seward women’s tennis team has a new member who has arrived for the Spring 2013 semester. Kathryn Roohan is a 22-year-old freshman who has three brothers and two dogs. She calls herself family-oriented, but the Universal City, Texas, native finds herself many miles away from her family, friends and pets as she settles in at Seward. Before coming to play tennis at Seward County Community College/Area Technical School , she went to Judson High School. After high school, she attended San Antonio Community College in her hometown from 2009 until 2011. She did not play tennis there, and she described her time there as “rough.” She was busy working and her grades weren’t as great as she wanted them to be. Furthermore, she said she was frustrated because she couldn’t figure out what she really wanted to do. But she is a fighter who never gives up, so she decided to try a new start at Seward. Roohan came to Seward for the spring semester because she got her tennis scholarships offer in November 2012. Currently, she joins the Lady Saints tennis team, who have just started tennis season. She said the nice people at SCCC/ATS are one of many reasons why she is enjoying her stay here. Despite that, she misses her family and her friends. In addition, she misses going out because she lived in a bigger town than Liberal and the size of the city is not the only thing that is different than in Texas. Roohan also added that the weather conditions here are different than in her hometown. The weather in southwest Kansas changes all the time, and it’s often windy, and that make it sometimes difficult to play tennis outside. Thus, she is looking forward to spring with the hope that the weather will get warmer. Before she came here, she never played in weather this cold. But the weather could never stop her from playing her favorite sport — tennis. She has played since she was 14 years old. In her senior year in high school, she was the captain of her team. Her father was also a tennis player; she discovered her passion for tennis through him. When she was younger, she also tried basketball, but she said that was not the right sport for her. She decided to keep playing tennis. She says she has never regretted this decision. She loves tennis so much because it is a “challenging and mental sport.” Roohan feels she has improved her skills. She is in good shape and has became faster. But despite of that, she said there is still a long way to go for her. “Some days I love this sport, but other days I hate it,” she said, a statement probably any athlete could relate to. Roohan is the oldest one in her team, but she has a good relationship with all her teammates. Roohan also has more hobbies, such as working out. Moreover, she enjoys watching movies or meeting friends in different locations like bars. She described herself as a friendly, generous and responsible personality. And, of course, she is very family oriented. She also likes to be independent. Thus, she enjoys the dorm life where she has to handle everything by herself. Her college roommate is Courtney Carlile and she has a good relationship and is getting to know her. Roohan is still undecided on her major. Texas stereotypes aside, Roohan is a passionate country dancer. Her plans for the future are to transfer to a university and become successful with tennis. She dreams of working as a tennis teacher for little children or becoming a tennis pro. Also, she would love to travel the world. Her favorite places to visit would be in Europe. She wants to visit Germany, Paris in France or places in Italy. But, for now, she is happy to be a student at SCCC/ATS.