Recommendation Letter

Maya Zein-El-Abdin is currently on staff at Westside Tennis Academy as a Junior Tennis Coach and I can assure you that she is undoubtedly one of the best young coaches in our Academy. Based on my experiences with Maya as a player and an employee over the years, I enthusiastically and fervently recommend Maya for admission into your graduate epidemiology program.

I am the Head Coach and Co-Owner of Westside Tennis Academy at the Westside Tennis and Fitness Club in Houston. The Westside Tennis Academy is one of the most comprehensive year-round junior tennis programs in the city, offering world class instruction and training to 85 young tennis players in the Houston area.

I have had the great pleasure of knowing Maya for the past 7 years as a player and now as a tennis instructor in my program. She trained with our Academy for 3 years before moving on to compete for the University of Texas women’s tennis team. In my twenty years of coaching experience, I have come across very few individuals like Maya. As player she exhibited the dedication, discipline, strong work ethic, and positive attitude that propelled her to become a great student athlete and has now made her an asset to our coaching staff. She has also learned to fight for what she wants, and that same tenacity will push her to succeed academically and professionally in the field of public health.

After graduating from college Maya chose to take a brief hiatus from academics and I was extremely proud and excited to bring her into our Academy as a coach. Because of her personal experiences as a top tennis player she is able to relate to her young students, motivating them to do their best. Maya easily relays her years of tennis knowledge in a way that is straightforward an...

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...lls, and discovering new interests; all of which give her a unique perspective and make her a very distinctive and well rounded candidate. She has prepared herself to pursue a master’s degree in public health through academically, in conducting relevant research, and traveling abroad for a medical aid trip; showing her dedication in preparing for this path she has chosen. The many strengths Maya has cultivated over the years as a player and a coach will help her tremendously in her professional career; she has learned to handle with difficult situation with grace and composure and with more experience will grow to become an exemplary individual. Maya is a wonderful and compassionate young lady with an admirable work ethic, excellent communication skills and I can say without a doubt that she will establish herself as a positive force as a public health professional.