2A
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WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2022
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APPEAL TRIBUNE
Take Care of Mental
Health: Letter From
a Graduate
Hailey Eckstein
Willamette Connections
Academy
Dear graduating class of 2022,
Where do I begin? We made it, even
with all the obstacles that stood in our
way. So, let me start by saying congrat-
ulations! Who would have guessed
when we started this journey through
high school that we would live through
the historic things we have experi-
enced. We overcame all the pandemic-
related problems including learning
difficulties, mental health struggles,
and more.
Life after graduation is hard enough
for seniors, but now we’re faced with
lingering COVID conditions, wars, the
highest inflation since the 1980s, at-
tempting equal rights for all, and here
we are. Sometimes it feels like we have
stepped back in the past while still be-
ing in the moment. How do we navigate
life now? Well, some of us will go to col-
lege, some will start working, but all of
us should take care of our mental health
through all of this.
Some graduates were forced into a
completely new learning experience in
the middle of high school. From the per-
spective of a few of my friends who
went through distance learning after
being used to an in-person school set-
ting, the transition was very difficult.
I’m thankful to have been in a full-time
online public school since kindergar-
ten, so I didn’t feel the major life change
that most of you did. Being able to finish
high school in the same virtual educa-
tion environment is a major accom-
plishment for me.
Now, after all the things going on
“Some graduates were
forced into a completely
new learning experience in
the middle of high school.
From the perspective of a
few of my friends who went
through distance learning
after being used to an
in-person school setting, the
transition was very difficult.
I’m thankful to have been in
a full-time online public
school since kindergarten,
so I didn’t feel the major life
change that most of you did.
Being able to finish high
school in the same virtual
education environment is a
major accomplishment for
me.”
around us, they tell us we’re adults and
must know what we want to do and
who we want to be right out of high
school. I don’t know about you, but I
don’t have my entire life planned out.
Even though I want to further my aca-
demic career and become a preschool
teacher that may not be who I end up
being in the long run.
We don’t know and that’s okay, but
it’s important to have a plan. Planning
allows us to figure out what we want
and if things change along the way
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that’s okay, too. We need to be able to
adjust and feel that it’s okay to change
our minds. Don’t get overwhelmed fig-
uring out what you want to do. Make
sure to have people around you who
support you and want what’s best for
you. The biggest thing is learning who
you are and loving that person.
Online school helped me be able to
do that, because I wasn’t as influenced
by my peers as much, and the loved
ones around me accepted me for who-
ever I wanted to be at that time. Never
feel forced to be something someone
else wants you to be. One of my favorite
Dr. Seuss quotes goes like this, “Be who
you are and say what you feel, because
those who mind don’t matter and those
who matter don’t mind.”
Before you venture out into the world
beyond high school, be sure to thank
those who supported you and got you to
this point — family, friends, teachers,
coaches, and many other mentors
along the way. The things they taught
you will last a lifetime and many will
still be there for you in the years ahead.
Finally, with the world changing so
fast it’s important not to get overloaded
with the drama life brings. Remember
to take mental health days, practice
self-care, and enjoy the beautiful
things that surround us, because
there’s always a positive out there, we
just have to find it.
Best of luck no matter where your
journey leads. Hailey
Hailey Eckstein is a member of the
Willamette Connections Academy ‘s
Graduating Class of 2022. Willamette
Connections Academy is now enrolling
for the 2022-23 academic year. To learn
more about the school or to begin the en-
rollment process visit www.Willamet-
teConnectionsAcademy.com or call
(800) 382-6010.
Wheelers nurture a growing tennis culture
Edith Noriega
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
This is part of a weekly series intro-
ducing readers to individuals who are
passionate about our Mid-Valley com-
munity.
Tennis is one of those sports you can
play for a lifetime.
Gary and Catherine Wheeler have
proven that adage, dedicating a life-
time’s worth of tennis at the Salem Ten-
nis and Swim Club and Sprague High
School’s boys tennis team.
“I like teaching not just kids but
adults,” Gary, Sprague’s head tennis
coach, said. “My classes at the club, I
teach one gal who’s 84 years old and a
few that are in their 70s; just started
playing and are doing really well. I like to
see people just improve and have fun at
it.
“One of the first things I always say to
my kids when I walk up to the fence is,
‘Are you having fun yet?’”
Gary and Catherine have co-coached
Sprague to numerous district and state
titles since becoming involved with the
program in 2006.
But their tennis roots stretch back to
Gary’s early playing days at Chemeketa
Community College and at De Anza Col-
lege in Cupertino, Calif. Gary, a member
of the Salem Tennis and Swim Club
since the early 1980s, eventually took
over as general manager for 12 years in
1994.
He entered the commercial flooring
business before returning to the club as
a tennis professional in 2017.
One thing Gary fondly remembers
more than anything else was the love for
tennis he and Catherine instilled in their
four sons.
“We raised our boys playing tennis
since they were 5,” Gary said.
All four of the Wheeler sons played
for the Olympians at one point — Curt
(2006 graduate), Matt (2008 graduate),
Brent (2011 graduate) and Scott (2014
graduate).
Curt, a 2006 singles state champion,
and Matt, a doubles second-rounder at
state that year, were the first taste of
state title glory under then-head coach
Catherine and then-assistant coach Ga-
ry.
Catherine was at the helm as head
coach the first nine years she and Gary
spent at Sprague; and together they led
the team to three state championships,
a second-place finish in 2011 and nu-
merous district titles.
“She helped me make the rosters,”
Gary said. “I listened for the most part. I
don’t want to take any credit away, but I
needed to have somebody here on time.
I said, ‘Why don’t you (Catherine) just
be head coach, I’ll go as assistant coach
and you’ll get all the glory.’”
Curt graduated from Point Loma
Nazarene in 2010, where he was named
Gary Wheeler and his wife, Catherine have been involved with the Sprague’s boys tennis program since 2006. EDITH
NORIEGA/STATESMAN JOURNAL
an NAIA All-American. He has re-
mained at the San Diego-based univer-
sity since being named head coach for
the Sea Lions’ men’s and women’s ten-
nis programs in 2015.
Meanwhile, Scott — the youngest of
the brothers — helped the Olympians
win four district titles in his four years.
In 2015, he played one season at San
Diego Mesa Community College, at-
tended Chemeketa but did not play ten-
nis; and played two years of tennis at
Arizona Christian University.
Scott completed his senior year of
tennis at Point Loma in 2019.
Unexpected news and family loss
Brent, a four-time district champion
— two in doubles and two in singles,
reached the state quarterfinals his
freshman year alongside doubles part-
ner and older brother Matt.
With a new doubles partner, Brent
placed third his sophomore year in
2009. He competed in singles at state
his junior and senior years, losing in the
semifinals each time.
He continued to play tennis at Divi-
sion I Portland State University, where
he set a then-program record with 12
wins before graduating in 2016. He had a
brief stint as manager of the West Hills
Racquet and Fitness Club in Beaverton,
and right before a cancer diagnosis had
taken an instructor position at the Sa-
lem Tennis and Swim Club.
Brent was diagnosed with acute lym-
phoblastic leukemia in late fall of 2017.
Although the prognosis seemed rela-
tively optimistic, he ran into early com-
plications with chemotherapy that rup-
tured his appendix, delaying a critical
stem cell transplant donated by his
brothers.
After healing from surgery due to the
appendicitis, Brent was listed as leuke-
mia free in June after receiving CAR T-
cell immunotherapy treatment as well
as the stem cell transplant.
But four days later, an excessive
amount of fluids surrounded his stom-
ach. That turned out to be a new cancer
that was untreatable − to which Gary
added, “we just kept fighting.”
“It was a long, long year,” Gary said.
“He is the reason why I’ll keep coaching
here (Sprague) and because of the kids.”
Brent died in August 2018, at the age
of 25.
Return to Sprague and a brighter
future
In the midst of Brent’s cancer battle,
Gary and Catherine stepped away from
all coaching duties at Sprague. They re-
turned in 2019, the same year Judson
Bair was the state runner-up, this time
under head coach Gary.
“We got each other’s back,” Catherine
said. “There’s two of us instead of one
when we need to help, especially in the
matches. We’ll say, ‘This guy really
needs to work on this or that’ and we’ll
go home, talk about lineups and every-
thing else because we are together.”
Despite the canceled seasons in 2020
and 2021, Gary noticed that tennis and
pickleball grew in popularity in Salem
during the coronavirus pandemic be-
cause of its accessibility.
“This year I had 34 kids try out, which
that’s the most I’ve ever had,” Gary said.
“I have kids asking about playing in the
summertime and that’s just music to my
ears.”
Although Gary predicted the next
three years are “going to be great,” he
added that he plans on coaching at
Sprague for at least another 10 — well
into his late 70s.
“I’ve got guys that really helped and
people offering to help now more so
than ever,” Gary said. “And I’ve had to
say, ‘No, I don’t need it’ because I got
enough.”
Edith Noriega is a sports reporter.
You
may
reach
her
at
ENoriega@salem.gannett.com and fol-
low her on Twitter at @Noriega_Edith.