My name is Roxanne and I am in my final year of my law and philosophy undergraduate degree at Kent Law School. I am also the first seed on the University of Kent Women’s tennis team, Vice-president of the Tennis Society and a level 2 tennis instructor. I started playing tennis when I was 7 years old in Malaysia where I was born and have not stopped playing since. I grew up in five different countries and trained in each of them, especially in Spain where I did homeschooling to dedicate more time to my training and tournaments. I have been competing for as long as I can remember and tennis is a huge part of my life that I have managed to balance alongside my law degree.
This year I was nominated to be the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) young person of the year in Kent and became the runner-up for this award. It meant a lot that members of the community nominated me, the university has excelled in providing an amazing tennis community for the students and the public and they appreciate all the effort we put into every session we run. This year, the Women’s 1s Tennis team has been promoted to the first-tier league as well as winning the conference cup, and as the first seed on the team, it has been an amazing achievement for me. I chose Kent for the law and philosophy joint-honours degree because I was very keen to study legal philosophy and the roots behind the law. However, another main driving factor was Kent’s tennis opportunities and facilities. 
Anyone who has played tennis knows it is extremely rare to have courts in amazing condition right on your doorstep, but having full, free access to them if you live on campus is what amazed me the most. I also have three 2-hour training sessions a week run by level 4 and 5 coaches with the tennis society membership, which any competitive tennis player would be so grateful for. This and the success with my team has made my university experience one that I could not have even dreamed of, and I would recommend anyone who plays tennis to consider these opportunities at the university.
I have a very busy schedule as I coach at the tennis centre for over 16 hours a week, train intensely for over 6 hours a week on court and in the gym, am the vice-president of the tennis society and I also work in hospitality every weekend for 12 hours, all on top of my degree. I will say this does come with very little free time in between, but because I love all that I do it feels like I am working and having fun at the same time every day. Playing competitive tennis has built up my drive to succeed and resilience to keep going just as I do in a match, and from that I will also have a drive to improve my level and skills. As well as that, being a coach is one of the most rewarding things I have done, witnessing the success and joy of my students and feeling that I have been able to help them improve is what makes this job a pleasure for me every day. It has reminded me why I am studying to be a lawyer as I want to help and build relationships with many people from different cultures and help them succeed, whether they are individuals or collectives. If I can make a difference in this way, my work will be my passion, and it will be something I look forward to and give my energy to every day.
I am very excited about going to Brazil in the summer as I was elected to attend the UFMG Summer school programme on a half-scholarship. Learning about Brazilian culture, law, history and geography will allow me to gain more cultural awareness which I wish to relate to law, as I have done with all the cultures I have lived amongst while growing up. I am aiming to gain some legal experience as soon as I return as I am aspiring to become a solicitor especially specialising in areas that involve relations with individuals and businesses all over the world. 
Studying law at Kent has been an amazing experience, especially this year as all my modules have never failed to engage me, experiencing the reality of the law in global economy and what its functions are. I am particularly interested in corporate compliance after studying International economic law, but I cannot wait to begin to experience any area of the legal world. Playing tennis at university has also filled me with the confidence and drive to succeed and achieve my goals in whatever I set my mind to. I will keep playing tennis competitively after university and possibly obtain my level 3 qualification which has been another goal of mine as a tennis coach.