By: John Jay Sports Information
This week, johnjayathletics.com caught up with former John Jay women's tennis player Gabriela Baez ('17). Baez was a four-year student-athlete and a top player for the Bloodhounds' tennis team from 2014-2017. Off the field, she was a scholar-athlete and Dean's List student. The New York native majored in forensic psychology and minored in human services. She was a member of the John Jay Commencement Choir, the CUNY Service Corps, and the National Society of Leadership & Success. We caught up with Baez to discuss her John Jay College memories, post-graduation, and the lessons she learned as a Bloodhound.
1) Where has life taken you since you graduated from John Jay College of Criminal Justice?
Since graduating from John Jay, a lot has happened. Life has taken me through a bunch of twist and turns but I finally know why. At first, I wanted to become a mental health counselor so my age focus was the psychology of young adults. After I finished college, I decided to enroll in a Master's Program for Mental Health. The program was very challenging but I realized that I could not relate as much as I thought I would. Instead, I decided to pick up a job as a tennis instructor for children between the ages of 3-14. I forgot how much I loved surrounding myself with tennis and being able to teach the sport to others. I then realized that I always wanted to surround myself with not only tennis, but with all sports. This realization led me to my current position as a Learning Specialist at Saint Francis College in Brooklyn. This is the first step that I have taken towards my goal of helping student-athletes in the present and for the future.
2) What personal or professional accomplishment(s) are you most proud of since you graduated?
One of my personal goals that I accomplished was the first time I coached a tennis class of students on my own. This experience was thrilling and the best part was seeing my students smile and laugh because they were having so much fun. I believe that sports can make any individual grow in all aspects. One professional goal I accomplished was when I became a Learning Specialist for Division I student-athletes. I meet with student-athletes every day and my job is to make sure they are staying on track with all their classes. I help by guiding them on how to schedule their weekly homework assignments for every class. It can be difficult to be organized as a student-athlete while taking six classes. The biggest satisfaction is when student-athletes come back to tell me with a huge smile on their face that they received an A for the class. The student-athletes get their assignments done and do very well in their sports. This is the first step towards my overall goal of becoming a student-athlete academic advisor.
3) What are you most proud of from your time as a Bloodhound?
As the saying goes, once you are a Bloodhound, you are a Bloodhound forever. While I was still a student at John Jay, I had many proud moments. I will never forget the love I felt from being a student-athlete at John Jay. It was as if we were all one big family that would support and look out for each other. I will always be proud to call John Jay my second home and to recognize anyone in the athletics department as family. Everyone in John Jay Athletics did the best they could and honestly if it was not for the academic advisement and my coaches, I do not know if I would have been able to get through college. John Jay has taught me the love of my sport and the passion that comes with being a student-athlete. I will always be proud of that.
4) What advice would you give your college self/current Bloodhounds?
The advice I would give to current Bloodhounds is that if they need help to always reach out and speak up. Someone will be able to help them with just about anything or will be directed to someone that can. Another piece of advice I would give to freshman is to do your best academically because it really does set the foundation for the rest of your college years.
5) What did you learn in your time at John Jay that has stayed with you in your post-collegiate life?
One thing that I learned is to always be fierce and fight for what you believe is right. Always maintain professionalism by having respect on the court and in the classroom.
6) Are you still involved with sports? If so, how?
I still play tennis every two weeks, I do archery every Tuesday, and I just recently started hiking. I make sure to surround myself with sports as much as I can.
2018 Women's Tennis Season Update: After capturing the program's first CUNYAC Championship in 2017, the Bloodhounds are off to a hot start in 2018. The team is currently 3-1 overall and 1-0 in conference play. Junior
Angelica Lozano is 3-1 in both singles and doubles. The CUNYAC postseason begins on Sunday, October 21. The Championship is scheduled for Friday, October 26, at 3:00 pm at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing, NY.
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