By ADEM SARICAOGLU
GEMMA Goodland had to juggle her studies with her promising tennis exploits as a student of the Maribyrnong College Sports Academy.
Now the 19-year-old Seabrook resident plans to do it all over again, only this time on the other side of the planet.
Goodland is headed for the United States to embark on a new adventure at Tennessee’s Lincoln Memorial University and despite some initial trepidation, she cannot wait to get there.
“I was pretty excited and really nervous at the same time,” Goodland explained.
“Going to a new country is pretty nerve-racking, especially when you’re going to live there for nearly four or five years.”
Goodland plans to engage in a four-year course and will major in biology while touring the country to prove her worth on the tennis court.
The journey started in her early teens when the left-hander decided to seriously pursue tennis.
After a little persuasion from father Dale, himself a handy hitter back in his day, Goodland ended up at Maribyrnong College and completed her VCE there last year.
And considering the next four years will see Goodland grappling the dubious task of combining her tennis with serious study, it’s lucky she got plenty of practice at Maribyrnong College.
“Going there was very different having the whole sports side to it and having nearly every student there being an athlete,” she said.
“They had an understanding of how you felt with your life, like how busy your life was to play sport and how chaotic it could get while you were doing sport and VCE at the same time.
“I had to stop (tennis) for about four months at the end of 2012 so I could concentrate on my exams and just study up.
“It was hard but I got through it. I did OK.”
Currently ranked 270 in Australia Goodland isn’t looking too far ahead at this stage, but if the opportunity does come up to go pro, she’ll jump at it.
“At the moment I’m just looking at college and seeing what happens when I get over there,” Goodland said.
“If I’m told I can do really well then I’m probably going to give it (turning professional) a crack.”
