Revere High School students are encouraged to focus and be productive mostly in their academics. Revere hopes to see every student making the work they get done in the classroom their main priority to achieve success. For Junior Aleena Siedlecki, productivity goes further than just the classroom. Siedlecki distributes equal effort throughout her classrooms, the tennis court and various volunteering affairs. Siedlecki has worked to find a valuable balance between her tennis and academic career while still staying involved with other extracurriculars. Due to her involvement in school activities, Siedlecki has learned new things about herself and the world around her. She has spent many hours outside of school building her skills and confidence, allowing her to succeed in everything she chooses to do.
Siedlecki organizes her priorities to achieve great success in everything she does. She strives to balance all aspects of her life and provides her time for herself. This balance assures her time is managed and allows her to put equal effort into all her extracurricular activities.
“School is definitely my number one priority . . . I’ve been doing tennis for so long that I do have a strong passion for it, so I continue to make that my next priority. . . volunteering. I love helping out our community, so I try to do that on weekends. . . . But I try to make sure I have an equal amount set for each of my passions,” Siedlecki said.
Siedlecki has been playing and working hard at tennis since she was young. She has developed a strong passion for it, which has become more than a hobby. After significant work, Siedlecki made the varsity team as a sophomore. Knowing her hard work, dedication, and determination were paying off was a top feeling for her.
“One of my favorite feelings [is] . . . definitely knowing that you put in so much work and that it pays off. . . . It’s a better feeling than knowing I had just made it for some random reason compared to knowing that I put in that much work, and it paid off,” Siedlecki said.
Junior Varsity Tennis Coach Jennifer Exten has watched Siedlecki excel as a player. She expresses what she likes to see in her players and offers techniques and advice on staying focused during matches and balancing tennis with their academics.
“I’ve enjoyed watching Aleena progress throughout her years, and I always talk about her one watch that was most memorable. . . . I like to see positivity and perseverance, I think are really important”. . . .“You have to be able to talk yourself out of the negative. . . . When they’re in the middle of a match, you have to really focus on that point. You can’t focus on everything . . . just that one point in the game,” Exten said.
Exten’s coaching has helped Siedlecki grow not only her tennis skills but also her game mindset. Exten always preaches being positive during a match to her players. She encourages her players to keep moving forward no matter what to help them stay calm and collected during a hard match. Exten recognizes the sport’s intensity, so she guarantees a positive environment for her players.
“It’s so easy to do because you’re by yourself, especially in singles, to get down on yourself. . . . When you play doubles, it’s hard because you have another person depending on you. So, keeping a positive mindset and knowing that I lost this point, but let’s go get the next one,” she said.
Siedlecki wanted to continue tennis outside of the high school environment to continue developing her skills. She puts in work off-season to move up during the high school season. Siedlecki’s workload in the off-season increased as she moved up to more advanced teams and positions in tennis. She also makes sure to create time for friends and family to have a healthy balance.
“I’m at Spring Side . . . two to three times a week, which is group lessons and private lessons. On top of that, I try to do workouts when I can, and hanging with friends and family whenever I get the chance,” Siedlecki said.
Last spring, Siedlecki decided to add another extracurricular to her schedule. She began junior coaching Girls On The Run at Bath Elementary. Girls On The Run is an after-school activity for elementary and middle school students where they build their confidence and train for a 5K at the end of the season. Siedlecki participated in the program in elementary school and wanted to impact the girls the way her coaches impacted her positively. She just finished her second season coaching this fall and is looking forward to more seasons in the future.
“Coaching it was kind of a full circle moment for me. Doing the program as a kid, I truly do believe that it helped shape me into who I am. . . . All the positivity and self-esteem that you build is great, and I wanted to make sure other girls had that same impact,” Siedlecki said.
The head coaches at Girls On The Run appreciate their high school volunteers, believing they impact the girls. The head coaches also find the junior coaches helpful and great role models to the elementary students. One head coach, Kristi Pielstick, shares her gratitude and admiration for the high school volunteers.
“I was a little nervous having junior coaches when we first had them, but then . . . they were so mature, and they added so much. I was really amazed [by their] . . . maturity, responsibility. and enthusiasm. And Aleena has all three of those,” Pielstick said.
As a junior, putting work into tennis, coaching, volunteering, and her social life, Siedlecki must organize her priorities. Her organizational skills allow her to make productive progress in each aspect of her life. Siedlecki knows when to put in the work for what she wants and when to sit back to enjoy time with family and friends.
