The Independent Voice of Southern Methodist University Since 1915

The Daily Campus

The Daily Campus

The Independent Voice of Southern Methodist University Since 1915

The Daily Campus

The Independent Voice of Southern Methodist University Since 1915

The Daily Campus

The audience listens to the engaging conversation of the panelists at the 2nd annual AAPI symposium.
AAPI symposium promotes allyship and community building
Grace Bair, Social Media Editor • April 26, 2024
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Female athlete of the week: Marta Lesniak

She loves music, is deathly afraid of planes and won the National Championship in Tennis.

Marta Lesniak, 23, can’t sit still for long; in fact she won’t be here for much longer. She graduates in December and will head back to Poland, where she is from. Just by talking to her, you can tell Lesniak is a fighter and sets her goals high. Most recently she won the National Championship in tennis.

She started playing when she was 4-years-old.

“After I won my first tournament, I wanted more and more and more,” Lesniak said.

Lesniak definitely fulfilled that desire. A national championship in collegiate sports is just about the granddaddy of them all.

The national championship tournament, in her own words, “was amazing from the first day to the last.”

Lesniak never expected to win the entire tournament. She says it was a “shock.”

She recalls finding herself in the semifinals and being “a little bit nervous,” but once she found herself in the finals she didn’t know what to do. So she played, just like she had done on the court her entire life. The first round she recalls playing really badly. Suddenly it was the championship point, “oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, it is happening.”

Lesniak was beside herself, beaming with joy.

“It feels amazing,” she said.

Now tennis season is over and she is only practicing eight hours a week, instead of the usual 20. She and her roommate also just got a dog, but Lesniak alluded to the fact that she is going to take her home.

Lesniak’s roommate is someone she said she should have met years ago.

They both attended the same academy in Spain but never met there. Coincidentally, when they both enrolled at SMU they became roommates.

“She is the best person I know,” Lesniak said.

When she is not thinking about tennis, she is listening to music — her other passion. She is so passionate about music that the back of her tracksuit reads, “House Music.”

She describes her four years at SMU as a great experience, in which she has left her legacy here on campus as a leader and a champion.  

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