Aces on the Court and in the Classroom, Pt. 1: Valentina Martin

Valentina Martin on the court/ photo by DePaul Athletics

By Neil Fotre

This is the first edition of a spotlight series on Kellstadt students who are DePaul Women’s Tennis Players. Did you know? The Women’s Tennis team has the highest GPA [3.97] of all DePaul athletic teams.

Valentina Martin has enough energy to sprint around the tennis court after delivering a multi-layered case study. The 21-year-old, headband-sporting, combined degree seeking student is a unique personality among the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business population.

“Valen,” as her friends refer to her, originally hails from Caracas, Venezuela. She transferred to the DePaul community in 2020 after spending two years at the University of Central Florida. Martin astutely stands at five feet and one inch tall. Yet, her modest vertical prowess masks the near 100-mile-per-hour serve she fires at her opponents on the Blue Demon tennis courts.

The ability to merge an athletic opportunity with an undergraduate degree in business administration and a graduate degree in marketing was a major allure for Martin. Although, she admits that Chicago pizza was a welcome addition to her transfer to DePaul and the transition to living alone in a big city for the first time in her life.

Pursuing a dual-degree is a daunting task for any motivated student. Despite the workload, Martin has maintained a 4.0 grade point average in her academic tenure at DePaul, while simultaneously beginning her marketing intensive coursework at Kellstadt. This academic achievement alone is worthy of standout recognition. Remarkably, the self-proclaimed academic and “super-nerd” is a highly dedicated athlete as well. Martin balances her coursework obligations while also committing to an at times, 20-hour-a-week workout regimen as an active student athlete.

Martin first picked up a tennis racket at the age of four and completely dedicated herself to the sport by her tenth birthday. She began competing internationally shortly after, “racketing-up” tournament wins across South America and North America.

According to Martin, traveling and moving around due to sports isn’t easy; it can be difficult at times to feel accepted in new environments. However, she describes the DePaul community as “so welcoming of new students and players.”

“I love school,” Martin says, reflecting on her recent start at Kellstadt. “My favorite professor is Professor Paul Petricca, who currently teaches my Customer Relationship Management course at Kellstadt. This course has really strengthened my motivation and passion for working with people and being a team player.”

Her Kellstadt coursework has also furthered her ambition to capture a career where she can combine her court-side “service” skillsets in a customer-first corporate culture.

While Martin maintains that tennis and a workout schedule will always be a part of her life, she is excited at the prospect of entering the professional corporate workforce. In the summer of 2021, Martin successfully completed a 12-week internship at Dell. She will also be continuing at Dell this upcoming summer as a lead intern, acclimating new interns with their workplace responsibilities while also tackling new independent projects.

Despite the fact that she navigates the Chicago winter with a thick, Blue Demon parka, her warm-weather background prefers and awaits the upcoming spring and summer. Sadly, Martin has not had the opportunity to watch the Cubs play at Wrigley Field since moving to Chicago. Despite the fact that the stadium does not serve her preferred Venezuelan snack, tequeños, she is hoping to cross a home game off the list of summer Chicago-to-dos.

In the meantime, Martin is dedicated to continuing to achieve the highest marks in her studies, while aiding her fellow tennis teammates in another winning season, one “Ace” at a time.

Neil Fotre is a full-time MS candidate at the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business. He is a former United States Army cavalry officer and a forever seltzer aficionado. He has an MBA from Kellstadt and an MS in investigative journalism from Northwestern University. In-between academics he has become an Instapot chef and homemade chocolate connoisseur. Outside of the kitchen you can spot him on the lakefront trail, running off sugar and caffeine jitters.