Christina Perrier is the newest addition to NYJTL’s marketing department. As a rising sophomore at Syracuse University majoring in magazine journalism and psychology, she is putting her studies to the test and getting some (remote) workplace experience.
Christina started interning in June but has been a part of NYJTL since she was five years old. Christina’s mom was told about the community tennis program by a parent one day and enrolled Christina and her older brother, Emrich, at the Wagner site.
“My brother and I looked forward to playing tennis at Wagner every summer. We would stay there all day, past the lessons, with all of our friends just hitting and spending time together. We built such a great community of friends and had become close with the coaches that even after we moved, we still went to that site – we’d take the bus up every day or walk the 60 blocks.”
In her teen years at Wagner, Christina started volunteering with the little kids in the morning session. Following her brother’s lead who began coaching a year before her, Christina became a tennis coach with CTP when she was 17.
She worked at Seward Park and Brandeis for two summers before pursuing a position that better aligned with her collegiate studies, where she landed the internship with Joe Ceriello and Sachi Kurup.
“This organization has a really special place in my heart. They’re providing the skills and the tools to help kids become better tennis players and better people, while also fostering a great community of caring individuals. They have also provided me with so many opportunities and continue to do so now that I’m in my college career.”
Ever since she was little, Christina has always loved to write, anything from songs to stories to essays. Going into college, she knew she wanted to study some form of communications, and having done so much creative work, she wanted to learn how to write in a more intellectual space through journalism. She also knew she wanted to work with people and decided to pursue psychology as a way to supplement her work. It wasn’t until she attended Lehigh that she uncovered an interest in advertising and business, which inspired her to take on a marketing minor.
Taking her studies outside of the classroom, Christina has been plunged into the marketing world, where she said there has been a large learning curve.
“Interning with NYJTL has been really rewarding. You can only learn so much in a classroom setting going over terms and taking tests. Even though some of my tasks are writing stories like I do at school or creating content like I do for my blog or social media platforms or just taking meetings, there are a lot more moving parts and connections with other departments that I otherwise would not have known about. It’s been really cool to have gained that real work experience.”
Having been with the program for 14 years now, Christina has been able to pick up tennis skills, teaching skills, and business skills, among many others. She said she sees herself remaining with the organization for years to come.
“As NYJTL says “Grow with the game,” but I’ve also gotten to grow with the program. My coaches and site directors saw me grow into myself from 5 to 16 years old. At the same time, I saw my coaches grow up – I just saw my childhood coach, who was in high school at the time, get married. I’ve gotten to work with site directors who were coaches when I was a kid, too. Even though I only coached for two years I got to see my own students grow up a little. Now, people from the program like Scott Daly, who I’ve known since forever, are seeing me mature in an academic and professional space.”