Student Spotlight | Katherine Callaway

Heiry Pena, Social Media Editor

30 January, 2024

 In this week’s edition of The Port Light, we are shining a light on a student within the PCHS community, Katherine Callaway. She is a dedicated student athlete, who devotes her time to multiple activities such as acapella, squash, and a writer for The Port Light. On top of all these activities she finds time to work and be an excellent student within all her classes. The Port Light conducted an interview on this driven student in a variety of topics such as her upcoming future plans and her plans for squash.  

Do you know what college you are considering applying to next year?

“I have a whole list, I can tell you the ones I’ve been in contact with. I’ve talked to a lot of smaller colleges. Mainly liberal arts colleges have squash programs I like. Most are in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and New York. I’ve been directly in contact with six, but I’m emailing over 20 schools to learn more about their programs and to be in contact with them.” 

Do you have a major in mind?

“Right now I kind of keep changing my mind about what I want to do. I’m in between psychology, so I want to take a sports psychology class to help with squash. If I don’t go into psychology I still want to do something within the science subject.” 

What sparked your interest in this major? 

“If I do go into psychology, I always wondered how the human brain thinks and squash is very much of a thinking sport so the mental aspect is very important in it. I’ve been an athlete for so long that it is the most interesting to me. I find it important because science helps us learn more about the body and different things, so just to learn more things and new adventures.” 

What’s one of your goals?

 “My goal is to do well in my individual nationals this year, so I want to be within top 10. In college only the top nine play on the team and they have a very big roster so I want to play well in college to be able to play and fall within the top nine.” 

What classes do you enjoy the most?

“I really like IB Chemistry, it’s very difficult but also very interesting. I also like English because I like to be a part of The Port Light as a writer which is most likely where it plays in.” 

What is Squash? 

“Squash is a racquet sport where you hit a ball against a wall, it’s most similar to handball or racquetball. It’s one of the most active sports in the world. It consists of a lot of fitness, change of direction, and running.” 

Where do you play it? Are you on a competitive team?

“Since Port Chester does not offer a squash team, I merged onto the Rye High School team. It’s one of the biggest public schools in the country within squash. There’s about five girls teams and four boys teams, with 63 girls playing this year.” 

How long have you been playing squash?

“I started playing when I was five or six but I didn’t take it seriously till I was 13, and that’s when I started to care and started moving towards the goal of playing in college.” 

Did someone influence you to play?

“My dad is my squash coach, so he was the biggest person who pushed me to play the sport. When my brother decided to play in college, I saw how fun it was and wanted to play in college as well. Squash has a big thinking aspect within the sport so my mom has always kept me calm and motivated me by telling me I don’t always have to win. So my family is definitely a big influence and motivation for me to play.” 

What do you like and dislike about squash?

“I definitely like how it can become a team sport. When you play as a team the top seven play and those are the matches that count. In order to win you need four people to individually win so although it can be an individual sport it is also very much a team sport. It all adds up in the end and everyone is really supportive of each other even if you don’t win your individual match. I don’t really dislike anything about the sport, however I do find some things difficult. While playing, you come across several different types of player and you never truly know what to expect. There are times where you have to play someone who on paper is a lot better than you, but it is important to never give up and always try your best. ” 

How do you feel about being a junior this year knowing your senior year is coming? 

“My junior year is definitely going to be a lot more stressful than senior year. It is the year that recruitments start. It is more stressful because you have people coming to watch you. My goal is to know by the end of this summer/before my senior year where I’m going so that my senior year of squash isn’t as stressful.” 

Advice for PCHS students:

“If you want to play sports in college make sure you get your name out there as soon as you know, it is a very competitive world so the sooner you establish yourself the better.” 

Advice for PCHS juniors:

“It’s a tough year and make sure you keep your grades up. It’s an important year that colleges look at so if your goal is to get into a top college or any college at all make sure you’re pushing yourself to get the best grades you can.”