By Pete Ruden
Being the only one is nothing new for Iowa freshman Jason Kerst.
Around this time last year, Kerst was the only one to make the 10-hour drive to Montréal to compete in a high-level international tournament in which he won his first two matches in straight sets.
Fast forward to now, and he is the only true freshman on the Iowa men’s tennis team.
Even though he is the only one his age on the team, that doesn’t mean that he is by himself by any means.
“I have a lot of ‘big brothers,’ I guess you could say, in my teammates,” he said. “They’ve all really helped me adjust to the athletic culture and the academic culture.”
Having a team to support him has been important. Whether it’s adjusting to the game at the college level or adjusting to the college life in general, he has been able to lean on his teammates to help him improve and to help him settle in to his new life.
“A couple of the older guys really lead by example,” Kerst said. “I can try to learn from them and try to assimilate to the program as best as I can.”
While first-year athletes usually live with other teammates, Kerst is not able to do that. However, it has allowed him to create relationships with athletes from other sports that he may not have developed otherwise.
With a roommate who is a gymnast and athletes from sports such as soccer and rowing on his floor, Kerst has been able to maintain a good balance among tennis friends as well as friends from other sports.
Redshirt freshman Kareem Allaf has a different story. He lived in the same building as his tennis teammates his first year on campus, which he said was convenient.
Still, Allaf knew the struggle of being a first-year student, but he also recognized the benefit of being a part of something special on campus.
“It didn’t start too well for me. I was homesick; I missed my family,” he said. “But just to be part of something [like] Iowa and the Hawkeyes and just watching the games and everything meant so much. To be a part of something big is pretty special.”
Even though it isn’t always easy, head coach Ross Wilson thinks Kerst is doing a great job with the transition.
Wilson said Kerst is extremely self-sufficient, going to class, going to practice, working hard, and being a good teammate.
“He’s been great,” Wilson said. “The guy is one of the most mature, motivated 18-year-olds I’ve been around…The guy is phenomenal, and we’re definitely very lucky to have him on our team.”
Because he hasn’t been here as long as the rest of the team and he has received advice along the way, Kerst does feel like a freshman. But as he has experienced so far, being the only freshman on the team isn’t always a bad thing.
“It does really feel like I’m the only freshman because I’m still receiving a lot of that advice and the guys are giving me a lot of pointers,” he said. “But at the same time, that doesn’t mean I don’t feel as welcomed. As soon as I committed here and as soon as I came to campus, the guys right away were my brothers.”