The first time I watched IU basketball my freshman year of college, I remember thinking - oh my gosh, they're my age! These semi-celebrities, boys we'd had crushes on, were now my peers.
Then as I began to investigate this finding, I realized that some professional athletes were younger than me (I'm kind of a sports-watching novice). It felt so odd. I suddenly felt inadequate. Sure, I was in college, but they were in college and providing us with the joy of March Madness.
It was even more shocking my senior year when I realized that 75 percent of all college athletes are younger than me. What was I doing with my life?
I just experienced this feeling again recently when I learned about seventeen year old Melanie Oudin. I'm five years older than her (half a decade!) and she's all over the news as she made it the US Open quarterfinal. What was I doing when I was seventeen? Well, I think I was probably still enjoying the fact that I could drive...
Even though Oudin lost tonight, I can't help but be in awe. In just ten days, she's evolved from a typical American teenager (though talented at tennis, still leading a typical life) to a celebrity. The word "believe" is now a message reserved for her tennis shoes. She actually has command of a word as common as believe.
She'll undoubtedly receive insane sponsorship as her career continues to grow. And as long as she doesn't pull a Phelps, things should remain pretty constant. So, I'm sure she was sad to see the tournament end for her, but for a Marietta girl, things are looking pretty good.
I'm not so sure you can count her as a typical teenager...considering her life has been tennis since seventh grade. But, I love her! I almost cried each time she won.
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