Growing up in a family of badminton players, Patrick Chi has pursued badminton since childhood. Today, Chi plays on Gunn’s badminton team — and has for all four years of high school — where he participates in all events: singles, doubles and mixed. He also trains year-round at Elite Badminton Center.

Chi’s badminton journey hasn’t always been smooth. The sport began to lose its luster in middle school as competition and pressure rose, up to the point where he almost wanted to quit. Eventually, though, he found his rhythm.

“Before getting to high school, the junior tournaments are very competitive, and you start to question yourself,” he said. “But (I learned) to trust in my own abilities.”

Badminton has helped Chi grow beyond increased physical skill and endurance, as competing with a team has taught him collaboration.

“I’ve learned how to communicate and interact with my peers, and listen to their unique perspectives,” he said. “(In badminton,) you have to understand your partner better and develop a strategy that suits both of your strengths.”

Chi plans to continue playing badminton on the University of California, Berkeley, team. While he’s been able to balance badminton and academics thus far, he believes college will prove to be a greater challenge. Still, even if it’s through casual play, Chi looks forward to diving deeper into one of his favorite aspects of the sport: community.

“I think it will be less rigorous because I will focus on forming connections instead of competing for personal glory,” he said. “(I’m excited to) meet new people on the team from diverse studies, locations and interests.”

At Berkeley, Chi plans to major in data science, an interest he’s fostered through computer science classes at Gunn.

“I believe data science is the future and opens up many new possibilities,” he said.