Elijah Poritzky \u201925 didn\u2019t always have Furman University or even college as a part of his plan. A standout tennis player who spent his teenage years training in Spain and competing internationally, he once envisioned going straight to the pros. But when the COVID-19 pandemic derailed global tournaments, Poritzky pivoted \u2013 and that unexpected choice would end up shaping him far beyond the tennis court.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never even got to visit Furman,\u201d Poritzky said. \u201cThe tennis coaches reached out to me and I really made that first connection with them. I kind of just picked the school not knowing anything. I was so lucky that I got to this beautiful campus.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now a senior communications studies major and preparing to graduate, Poritzky reflects on his time at Furman with gratitude and relief. The choice to combine tennis and a degree gave him flexibility, but it also unlocked a new sense of purpose.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’ve grown not just as a tennis player, but as a person,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve gained so many skills \u2013 people skills, communication skills, marketing skills. I’m just so happy I made this choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
That growth extended beyond the classroom. Poritzky became vice president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and served as captain of the tennis team. \u201cI never thought I would be in leadership positions,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I love being with the team and feeling like I\u2019m helping bring things together and celebrating success as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, his journey wasn\u2019t without adversity. A wrist injury in the summer of 2024 forced Poritzky to reevaluate his dreams of playing professional tennis. \u201cIt\u2019s gotten worse and it\u2019s painful to play,\u201d he admitted. \u201cThere\u2019s been a bit of a shift in my goals, and that has been hard to navigate, but Furman has given me opportunities, connections and skills I can lean on if I can\u2019t go pro.\u201d<\/p>\n
Internships in social media marketing, including one with Furman\u2019s Office of Admissions and another with a tennis gear company, helped him see what else was possible. Perhaps most transformative was the personal development Furman sparked. And with or without tennis, Poritzky is confident he\u2019ll be ready for what\u2019s next.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo matter what I have to do, I\u2019ll adapt and do my best in that situation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Elijah Poritzky ’25 brought higher education and athletics together to ensure he could benefit from both worlds while at Furman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":389,"featured_media":37744,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,24,51,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-athletics","category-communication-studies","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/389"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37972"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37986,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37972\/revisions\/37986"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}