Amanda Nava ’21 first became interested in tennis as a 4-year-old watching her mom play at a local club in Mexico where she grew up. At the time, Nava was much younger than the other kids, but her parents convinced the coach to let her play with the 6 and 7-year olds.
In the summers, she would visit her grandparents and attend day camp at Episcopal Academy, which is now the James J. Maguire ’58 campus at Saint Joseph’s University.
“I pretty much grew up there doing the camp,” Nava says. “Every time we played tennis I was always on the court and I didn't want to leave. I just continued playing and I haven't dropped the racket since.”
For Nava, Saint Joseph’s was a natural fit. She was familiar with the area and, when she stepped on campus, it felt welcoming with a diverse student body. The coaching staff on the tennis team also welcomed Nava to the school.
Women’s tennis head coach Ian Crookenden remembers one of Nava’s first tournaments as a freshman. During a changeover in her match, Crookenden noticed Nava sitting in her chair on the court looking agitated. He asked his graduate assistant to check on her, who returned a moment later to let him know, ‘Amanda is upset because she wanted to beat her opponent 6-0 and lost a game.’ From that moment, Crookenden says he never questioned Nava’s competitiveness.
On the tennis court, Nava has demonstrated she’s a tenacious athlete — soaring to become the Hawks’ #1 singles tennis player, representing Estado de Mexico in the Mexican National Olympics and competing in the Pan American Maccabi Games. Nava also unexpectedly flourished as an art student; before coming to Saint Joseph’s, she had never taken any formal art class.
Swapping the racquet for the paint brush, art became a way for her to unwind and de-stress. What started as a few classes turned into a minor and ultimately a double major in fine arts along with her major in criminal justice.
“I started using those classes as a way to relax, but at the same time I was learning so much and I was really enjoying it, so I just started taking more and more classes,” Nava says. “It was a major I didn't expect to have, but I think that's what happens when you start exploring and figuring that out.”
For Nava’s capstone project she wanted to create pieces that encapsulated the different aspects of her life; in particular she wanted to highlight inclusion and diversity through her art work.
Her series of drawings and paintings, called Geometric Conversations, display a visual language of colorful geometric shapes that overlap and interweave. The vibrant bold colors are also a representation of her own Mexican heritage.