At first, school wasn’t much better. Nervous about speaking English in class, she asked her teachers not to call on her. Fortunately, one of those teachers refused.
“I asked them if I can only submit assignments, and not speak, not participate at all, and most of them said yes,” Mariia says. “But one lady said no, I had to present in class and participate, and I was pushed. It turned out I wasn’t as bad as I thought.”
From there, her English improved rapidly. Still, her fellow middle-school students were, perhaps not surprisingly, less than sympathetic to the new girl’s plight.
“One person told me that I have to learn English, and in order for me to do that I have to go back to Ukraine, and then come back here once I know it,” she says. “I said, ‘That’s crazy. I can’t go back to Ukraine. There’s a war on.’”
Rather than going to Ukraine, she went to the Bronx.
That’s where the Cary Leeds Center for Tennis and Learning is located, and where Mariia has spent many afternoons over the past four years. In 2022, the 22-court facility began hosting the Scholar Athlete Program, an initiative started by New York Junior Tennis and Learning (NYJTL) that provides free tennis and academic instruction to young people based on their commitment, grades and financial situation. As of 2026, the program has roughly 100 enrollees, including Mariia.
