Most of the interviews I do for In the Game follow the same template. It’s the same questions, usually similar answers from one student-athlete to the next, and the stories take a familiar tone. In the rural South, experiences are similar from community to community, and the road to success leads down a common path.
Every once in a while, though, an interview is different. We get into some uncharted territory. The first few answers deviate from the standard, leading to different questions. And that happened almost immediately when I reached Courtney Terrell, an All-Region tennis player and Colquitt County High’s valedictorian of the Class of 2015, by phone. Yes, Terrell has been playing tennis for many, many years. Yes, she has played a number of USTA tournaments – events that shaped her game and taught her how to compete in big matches against superior opponents. Yes, she spends hour after hour at the tennis court each day, serving and hitting seemingly endlessly. And yes, she made up her mind several years ago to be the absolute best student she could be.
But Courtney Terrell is just . . . different. Not in a bad way at all. She talks differently than her peers. She speaks with an authority not often found among young ladies in her age group. Terrell sounds like an academic and it doesn’t take long to realize there’s a good reason why. As important as tennis is to Terrell, her grades are even more so.
When she was in the seventh grade, she decided she wanted to be valedictorian. “That’s always been a driving force for me,” she said. A little over a year later, she spent a summer at Duke University. She was a rising freshman back then, and for the first time, she found herself in the company of people who shared her academic vision. One of the classes she studied was an in-depth course in the biology of cancer. The class fascinated her, and that set her down a path toward the medical field. In fact, the entire experience at Duke was one that has shaped her academic future ever since.
“For the first time, I was around people as nerdy as me,” said Terrell with a laugh. “It laid the foundation for AP chemistry, calculus, and other honors classes. It had a huge impact on me.”
Terrell has never shied away from an academic challenge. As a sophomore, she took three AP classes, including chemistry and calculus. Though she has always been a gifted student, he tenth grade year was not easy. Terrell claims that though she has taken more AP classes in the years since (she has five now), her sophomore year was the toughest of her high school career. “I struggled that year and really had to work. I had to give more than I ever have,” she said.
Terrell survived her tenth grade year and flourished in the years since. As she continued a track to the medical field, she added another interest to her academic resume: Engineering. As a part of honors scientific research, a class Terrell had at Colquitt County High last year, she had to put together a project for a science fair. This, however, was no ordinary science project. Titled “Examining the Efficiency of Vertical Axis Wind Turbines Using Inexpensive Materials”, the project arose out of a desire Terrell had of building a wind tunnel. When the wind tunnel didn’t happen, she decided to study turbines. The project won Grand Champion at the Darton State College Regional Science Fair and earned her a trip to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. This year, she is working on another project, one that investigates distilling water using solar energy. A big advocate of green energy, Terrell states that a great deal of water can be distilled quickly using the sun’s natural energy.
With her varied interests, what career path does she intend to take? While Terrell has yet to decide upon a university, she plans on majoring in biomedical engineering with a focus on pre-med. “I can apply my love of research in medicine through engineering,” she said.
Five AP classes. An international-level science project. Attempting to save the planet through green energy (not really, but kind of, if that makes sense). Holding on to her class’s #1 ranking. Singing in Colquitt County High’s various choirs and landing the lead in the annual musical (two activities we haven’t discussed but take up a significant portion of Terrell’s time). Where in the world does she find time to play tennis? Quite simply, she just makes the time available.
During that defining sophomore year, Terrell made a conscious decision to ease up on tennis. She stopped playing the USTA events and focused solely on playing for Colquitt. The lessons she learned playing USTA were invaluable – she learned strategy, how to read an opponent with which she wasn’t familiar, how to handle better and stronger players, and how to develop the mental aspect of the game.
“Those were big lessons. But I had to choose between tennis and school. I went with school,” Terrell said. That doesn’t 
necessarily mean that her tennis game has suffered. Terrell remains one of the better players in the region. An All-Region selection last year, she hopes to play #1 singles this year.
As you might expect, what makes Terrell such a strong player is her command of tennis’s mental side. “There are two sides of tennis: the physical and the mental. You have to be good on the physical side – placing your shots, limiting mistakes. I can do all of that. But I play mentally aggressive,” she said. Terrell doesn’t let her emotions show, even when she’s behind or if she is injured. She extends points and plays within herself. Terrell is a consistent shot-maker and she wears down her opponents with long rallies and keeping unforced errors at bay. “Each game is different and it presents a different challenge. I’ve had to play smart during my career. I’m not overpowering. I stay calm and keep my composure. It’s not easy to do that when you’re behind, but I think I’ve been able to do a pretty good job of that,” she said.
At the time of this writing, tennis season was still several long weeks away. After making the state tournament in her first two years, Colquitt missed the postseason last year. Terrell hopes her team gets back to the state tournament and advances far enough to get to the Atlanta-area schools. Until then, though, she will keep doing what she does best – read, study, solve problems, and work equations. And when the time comes, Courtney Terrell will use those lessons she’s learned in the classroom to fool her opponents and hopefully lead Colquitt back to the state tournament.
“I hope we get to the Sweet 16. That will get us to the Atlanta teams,” she said.
Sidebar:
Courtney Terrell is the second in the Terrell clan to be featured as an Academic Athlete on the pages of this magazine. In June of 2010, we featured her sister, Constance. In fact, Courtney credits Constance with introducing her to the game of tennis. “I started because my sister was playing. I don’t give her enough credit but the reason I play like I do is because of her,” Courtney said.
Favorites:
• Subject: Calculus
• Area of research: Green or renewable energy
• Place to travel: Greece or the Galapagos Islands.
• Person to meet: John F. Kennedy or Henrietta Lacks
• Superpower: Read people’s minds
• What would you do with $1 million? Save it and use it for college
Academic Athlete/South Georgia/February 2015
Courtney Terrell
Colquitt County High School
Moultrie, Georgia
Robert Preston Jr.
Colquitt senior at the top of the heap – on the tennis court and in the classroom
