A decision made in high school has influenced the my choice of college and career.

By Andrew Buchholz

I was always a baseball player. Tennis was an afterthought; something I did when I had the time. But baseball was my life. As high school was drawing near, I had a decision to make: play for the freshman baseball team or for the varsity tennis team. I chose tennis, and I found my passion. Tennis is my life.

As I quickly approach my junior year in Ferris State's Professional Tennis Management Program, I like to look back at what brought me to this point. That one decision I made when I was 14 years old changed my life. And I had an even bigger decision to make as college approached. I knew I wanted to major in business, so I applied and got accepted to strong business schools such as Loyola Chicago and Miami of Ohio. But I knew that those schools would toss me in the same pool with thousands of students across the country with a basic business degree.

The PTM Program offered a unique degree with an unbeatable job placement rate (close to 100 percent!). Eager students get rewarded with incredible internships, lasting connections to the biggest names in the industry, and, most importantly, experiences and classes to build a long-lasting career.

One of those incredible internships came to me this year. I work for Mike Smookler, who runs Tennis Management International. The company owns multiple facilities, two of which I am working at this summer. The first is located on historic Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City. I work at Richmond County Country Club , which dates from 1888 and is just a 20-minute ferry ride away from Lower Manhattan. The second facility is in Gillette, N.J., where I am the Head Pro of Copper Springs Beach & Tennis Club . 

I'll share my experiences and lessons learned at these two clubs through this column, which is part of my internship work with the TennisWire Network. I will show how I can apply skills learned in PTM, how life is at a country club, and interview some of the leaders in the industry. New York offers many exciting tennis events throughout the summer, and I will be covering as many as possible. One of which is the Guillermo Vilas Clinic at Richmond County Country Club, a two-day clinic hosted by the four-time Grand Slam champion. These are just a few examples of the angles I will write about. I look forward to sharing these stories on this blog, and showing how PTM shapes my career.

After all, tennis is my life.