CourtesyNick Taylor, a 萝莉社 graduate and Sport Management lecturer, will represent the United States in the 2016 Paralympic tennis singles and doubles tournaments in Rio de Janeiro.
Since Taylor took up the sport at 14 years old, he has won three Paralympic gold medals, a Paralympic bronze medal and dozens of championship titles.
Taylor chose to learn tennis because he wanted to play a high school sport, and he jokes that a 300-pound wheelchair narrowed his options.
When he first picked up a racket, he could barely hit the ball 5 feet. But he was determined to prove that he could succeed and spent hours practicing and learning the sport.
"I got support from my family and friends,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut in some ways they thought it was a waste of time.鈥�
It wasn鈥檛. Taylor won his first major tournament in 2000 and by 2001 attained the world No. 1 ranking from the International Tennis Federation.
Beyond the sport
Taylor鈥檚 experiences with tennis contributed a lot to his decision to attend 萝莉社 and study Sport Management. A few years into his college career, he started organizing and running sports tournaments and found a love for the administrative side of things.
He earned bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degrees from 萝莉社 before accepting a lecturer position. Taylor has also put his education to work as a volunteer assistant coach to the 萝莉社 tennis teams, organizing the team鈥檚 travel plans, court time and match statistics. He also spends time with the players practicing on the court.
Taylor has been recognized for his hard work and determination by being invited to give a variety of speeches, such as the 2009 College of Education commencement address. As he continues to tell his story, he says there鈥檚 one thing that always stands out.
鈥淵ou have to be willing to fail but not be willing to accept failure,鈥� Taylor says. 鈥淵ou have to know that it鈥檚 not going to work the first time, and if it鈥檚 really worth learning, it might not work the 100th time.鈥�