Ben Kopecky '14 Recalls Valuable Lessons Learned as a Student Athlete

August 2, 2015

Ben Kopecky, a 2014 graduate of DePauw University where he was a standout on the Tiger men's tennis team, is featured in the Post-Bulletin of Rochester, Minnesota. The piece recalls a "heartbreaking" loss five years ago in the state tennis semifinals, and the lessons Kopecky learned as a student athlete. (photo: Kopecky as a DePauw junior)

"For me, I just have to trust my goal, and trust the process of doing the best that I can," Kopecky tells the newspaper. "In tennis, you control the things you can control, otherwise things can snowball and you can get crushed. It's the same way in life. You can't let mistakes and mess-ups lead to more of that. I've executed like this so many times in tennis. You can't play not to lose, and you have to have a short memory, put away your mistakes, but also learn from them."

Patt Ruff reports, "Ben is enrolled at Creighton University and working toward a masters degree in Clinical Anatomy. He graduated in 2014 from DePauw University where he'd been a four-year tennis and academic standout at the Division III school in Greencastle, Ind. By the fall of 2016, he hopes to be in medical school ... Kopecky cherished his time at DePauw where he says he got a strong education and relished the opportunity to play on its tennis team."

"The guys on the team, that's what made it," says Kopecky, who was a biology major and Spanish minor. "And my doubles partner and I, Sam Miles, we became like brothers."

You'll find the complete article at the paper's website.

Back