DURHAM, N.C. — What began as a childhood hobby became a teenage obsession and now a college profession.
Shavit Kimchi has grown into one of the best tennis players in the country. Ranked as high as 58th by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, she has become a key to the Blue Devils tennis program.
As Duke's top singles player, she stands in no one's shadow, but that doesn't mean her freshman year came easy.
"It wasn't easy. I remember the first month, it was really hard for me in school," Kimchi said. "I was struggling, but all of my teammates were helpful. The coaches were so helpful.
"In general, the people here only want your best, so I was very happy that even when it was tough, I was able to overcome those struggles and still be here today and not give up on that," she said.
Before she could bring her talents to the United States, she first had to fulfill an obligation in her native country of Israel.
At the age of 18, she served a two-and-a-half year mandatory commitment in the Israeli military. It was an experience that she says better prepared her for life both on and off the tennis court.
"I feel like this experience definitely made me tougher because I realized there's other things besides tennis, there's other things in this world," Kimchi said. "It gives you so much perspective about life. For sure, it made me feel ready for this journey here."
The unimaginable happened the morning of Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked the southern border of Isreal, killing more than 1,100 people and taking more than 240 hostages. The time difference between Israel and Durham is seven hours, but the impact for Shavit was immediate.
"So actually that weekend was one of my teammates' birthday and we were all out celebrating her birthday," she said. "Then my phone exploded with text messages.
"All my friends were texting like there's a huge attack with bombs and rockets, and I told my friends that something was wrong, because here it was 11 p.m. and back home it was 6:30 when it all started," Kimchi said. "It was very stressful. I didn't sleep the whole night. I think I was up until 6 and then I slept for two hours and then I woke up again because I just wanted to hear the news.
"Actually, one guy that I used to practice with got killed in those attacks on that day, so yeah, it was very, very hard," she said.
Thankfully for Kimchi, she hasn't gone through this alone. She found support on campus with fellow Jewish students at Duke.
They gather every Friday night for fellowship and a meal. It provides a chance to check in on one another, share stories about home, and reaffirm their faith.
But with the conflict in Israel still taking place, she hopes it will end sooner than later while being a vessel of communication for those who misunderstand the conflict.
"I honestly hope that this will all end soon," she said. "But I'm just trying to support and trying to be there for them as much as possible."
"Sometimes our time difference is hard to keep in touch, but I'm trying to just let them know that I'm here for everything they need and if I'm able to change one person's opinion about it, then it means the world to me," she said.