Dannett Whyte

Student

“When I have a problem understanding something, I go right to my teachers. They’ve gotten me tutoring and help in lots of ways.”

When she comes to the net for the SMC women’s tennis team, she’s all aggression, power and know-how. “Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario is my idol,” says Dannett Whyte, who was born in Jamaica. “She’s really tough and I always learn something when I watch her play.” Dannett is a pure competitor in tennis, softball and basketball, and she’s used to winning. But with the English language—and all the reading and writing SMC requires—Dannett reports finding a very tough opponent.

“It was the punctuation that got me most,” she says, “and the fact that I have an accent. I used to feel terrible about reading out loud in class. But then I took a class with Linda Eastman, who is really my favorite teacher. She taught me a lot of new ways to read and express myself in writing. And now I feel like the words all make sense. I read all the time now,” she continues. “And I’ll stand up and read in front of anybody.” Since bringing her language skills up to par with her tennis game, she’s concentrating on a career in physical therapy.

“I like helping people, and athletes are always going to be injured,” says Dannett. “I think I might try to play pro tennis, but if that doesn’t work out, I’ll have a job as a therapist that I can fall back on. I think the money is pretty good in sports medicine,” she adds. “And if I could, I’d really like to help my mom out too. She’s always bragging about my tennis,” she says with a laugh. “She’s my biggest fan… so far.”

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