If my friends told me I would play tennis in high school, I would have called them crazy. That feeling changed as I walked towards Arrowhead High School Court One with Luke and Sam. 

Luke told me, “He is a great coach and just makes tennis fun.”  

Sam described him as, “Just a fun coach. Makes drills interesting and makes everything a game.” 

What they left out was that he cares and knows all of his athletes. His name was Mr. Schlitt. He was tall, dark hair, fairly broad shoulder, and always had a smile on his face. 

I got to the court and put my shoes on. He came over and looked me in the eye, shook my hand and asked me who I was. He cared to know who I was; this made me feel like I belonged.

During the school year, I saw him a couple of times a week (at practice, a match, or at school). He was an engineering and manufacturing teacher and I could potentially have him as a junior or senior. He asked me how the season was going and how I was doing. I appreciated how he went out of his way. The season was great. I won and learned a lot. I knew that this was the perfect sport for me. 

I decided I would do a tennis camp that summer. I saw him standing with a smile on his face excited for what was to follow. He then talked and explained what we were doing and every time he tried and makes us laugh.

 As we got more into the summer, the weather got hotter and more humid. I joked, “I think it is too hot to play today.” 

He heard me and yelled back, “You will be fine, Zirgibel.” 

Every day the rest of that summer, I joked about the weather. The next time he beat me to it and said to me, “How’s the weather today, Zirgibel?”

I responded trying to make him laugh. Every single time I got a smile. And every time he smiled, it put a smile back on my face. It just meant a lot that he cared and thought I was funny.

The first day of senior year, I walked into the woodshop with a smile on my face because I knew I was walking into Mr. Schlitt’s cabinet-making class. Every day I would walk in and be the first one there. We had fun conversations about how life was going or what I needed to get done for that day. I was grateful for this as it made my day start off good and this helped me the rest of the day.

I never got to explain how grateful I was because I  joined tennis sophomore year. I got to meet a teacher and coach who cared about me and made sure I was doing well. He helped me realize how much the little things meant. Just saying hello and making sure everyone was doing well. 

Thank you, Mr. Schlitt.