Moving to a whole new city (maybe even a new country) without knowing anyone is daunting. I am an international student from Brazil, and although I completed my undergraduate studies in the United States at Barnard College, the transition to Houston was still difficult for me. I did not know anyone in Houston, and was feeling overwhelmed by the challenges of starting graduate school. Almost one year after moving here, I can say that one of the things that helped me significantly was playing table tennis.
I have been playing table tennis for more than a decade and used to play competitively. Right after arriving at Rice, I looked for the school’s table tennis club and started playing weekly with the team at the recreation center. Having a sport that is so familiar to me was comforting and helped me to get to know people and make friends. Every Saturday some of my teammates and I would carpool to play a league at a table tennis club in Katy (and get some Bubble tea after!). Graduate school can be very stressful, and although it was hard to find some time to exercise, it always helped me to relieve some of the stress. Additionally, playing table tennis allowed me to connect with people from different majors and backgrounds, from Behavioral Sciences to Civil Engineering. This allowed me to develop friendships at Rice beyond just my discipline and eased the transition to Houston.
Additionally, although you do not need to compete, there may be opportunities to play representing Rice. This past year, I competed with the Rice Table Tennis Team in the NCTTA (National College Table Tennis Association). We got to go twice to Fort Worth, Texas and even qualified for nationals in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and it was fun to meet students from all over the United States and compete with them.
One important thing to note is that although I have been in the sport for a long time, we have players in the team who started to play this year, and some who used to play when they were kids but had not touched a paddle in years! Regardless if you have a sport you have been playing since you were 5 years old, or if you are looking to start a new one, I am sure that there is a club at Rice where you can get to play and make friends.
About the author:
Daniela Hikari Yano is from Parana, Brazil and is a cuttent Ph.D. student in Physics. She got her B.A. in Physics and Computer Science at Barnard College in 2023. Read more.
Further Reading:
The Hidden Treasures at Rice that a New Graduate Student Should Know
Work-Life Balance in Graduate School