Life After Professional Tennis
After retiring from a successful career as a professional tennis player, Chanda Rubin returned to school to earn her bachelor’s degree. In this video she shares her path back to school and reflects on her experience at Harvard Extension School.
VIDEO SUMMARY
Speaking at Rubin’s Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony, former tennis player Zina Garrison shared remarks about Rubin as a rising star. One of the things that impressed Garrison most was that when Rubin wasn’t playing tennis, she always had a book in her hand.
But while the young Rubin always loved to learn, her tennis career quickly took priority, and her challenges were found on the court, rather than in the classroom. Rubin rose through the ranks, reaching a career high in 1996 with an Australian Open doubles championship and a number six world ranking for singles tennis. She appeared in the four major tournaments for nearly two decades, with the 2006 US Open being her final major.
At Harvard Extension School, Rubin applied lessons learned on the tennis court to the challenges she faced in the classroom. She graduated cum laude. Her experiences helped shape her efforts to give back to the community and reinforced her commitment to the importance of education at all stages in one’s life. She mentors youth through the Chanda Rubin Foundation and advocates for the value of education in her mentees’ lives.
