Reflections: Luca Marquard

Guten Tag,

I am Luca Marquard, Anteater class of 2018, former player on the UC Irvine men’s tennis team, and current third-year law student at the University of Southern California. After leaving my home country Germany in January 2015 to come to the United States, my college career began at a small West Coast university in Malibu overlooking the Pacific. My first and only semester there made two things clear to me. First, that I always wanted to enjoy the Southern California beach lifestyle, and second, that I needed a university with a tennis team that was as much a family as it was a team. I found both of these at UCI. 

I secured a last-minute spot at UCI thanks to a friend who, as Big West freshman and player of the year, was perfectly positioned to credibly recommend a fellow German for the team. Once back in Southern California, I moved in with four UCI baseball players on the Newport Beach peninsula. Having grown up in a landlocked rural town in Germany, I could not have dreamed of the life that now began for me. 

My typical day went something like this: at sunrise, and with the surfboard that I had bought on my first weekend in Newport under my arm, I rode my roommate’s bicycle from our house along the boardwalk by the beach to my favorite surf spots. Back home after a successful surf session that I often shared with passing dolphins, I exchanged my bike and board for my Vespa, backpack, and tennis rackets. I then rode my Vespa onto the Balboa Island ferry, traversed the Newport bay, only to arrive on UCI’s campus in time for my 10 a.m. class. Class was followed by a quick lunch with my teammates before we made our way to practice together. A few hours of purposeful work on the tennis court, another class, and the same scenic Vespa ride later, I arrived back at my Newport Beach home in the light the of setting sun.

Tennis being an individual sport, becoming part of a team was one of the aspects of my college career I was most excited about. At UCI, I quickly realized that our definition of a team went well beyond working towards a common athletic goal. Starting from the top with our coach who impressed upon us the value of the bond we were forging between us, we quickly became inseparable and after my first year, I moved in with four of my teammates. When waking up at 5 a.m. was fun because my friends were ready to play music during breakfast and motivate me for practice, that was when I knew that I was part of a special group. Many of us took largely the same classes and we studied together and helped each other. We cooked dinner and ate together, and had weekly team dinners with those teammates not living with us. Thanks to UCI’s proximity to Newport Beach, most teams have at least one house by the beach, which fosters a sense of community between athletes playing different sports. I made friends with many members of different teams as we spent time at each other’s houses or playing spike ball, surfing, or competing in our annual dodgeball tournament on the beach. 

At UCI, I have met friends, mentors, brothers, and even my fiancée. Together, we will remember old memories and create new ones. That coach Mike “Colonel” Saunders will officiate my wedding is vivid proof that relationships formed at UCI are built to last a lifetime.

- Luca Marquard