Proud Of Our Alumni!

Hello coach,

I just thought it would be appropriate to send you guys my first report back from South Bend, Indiana. I am currently sitting in my dormitory’s desk, one which is very similar the one in the St. Stephens days (scary). I just got out of practice a little early because I am a little bit under the weather (which is scary because it is about 45 degrees = tropical weather).

I must say Notre Dame is everything I thought of it and more. The school itself is even prettier than I thought. It is amazing how perfectly kept everything is and you can’t tell how they do it unless you have an early morning workout and see the hundreds of workers out doing their job.

The school, academically, is very challenging and arduous in terms of workload, but fortunately the school gives you whatever help you may need in any subject. Thankfully I am doing pretty well and believe it or not some classes are actually fun. It is amazing how much more you learn when you are actually interested in your classes. Even though the average SAT for freshmen in Notre Dame is a 1450, you would be surprised how many kids are barely passing because of their work ethic and time management. It is funny to think about this two key abilities because most people haven’t heard about them or don’t really know what they mean, but Flashing red lights Pop in my head with a big angry Jack Newman face giving me lectures about them over and over again.

Tennis wise, I love it. The team is a bunch of great guys and it was very easy for me to become great friends with them very quickly. I must admit I was a little bit scared and sad about leaving my friends behind, but thankfully these guys have made the transition a little easier. I really like both the head coach and the assistant coach and they remind me a lot about the ATA coaches because you can tell they really care about you as a person. I have personally struggled a little bit with my game, but both the players and the coaches have been extremely supportive and encouraging. I also know that at the moment I have to work twice as hard as anybody in the team if I want to see any playing time because we are very good and very deep in our line up. Yet I can already see my hard work paying off and I am confident I will make huge strides in my game with the help of the people that surround me.

In general, I feel very lucky to be a part of such an amazing prestigious institution and you all know I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the ATA family.

Best of luck to everybody in Austin (the best city in the world) and GO IRISH!!!!!!!!!

Santiago Montoya

P.S Notre Dame football is absolutely amazing.