Indiana University Athletics
Student Spotlight: Antonio Cembellin
10/31/2016 9:20:00 AM | General, Men's Tennis, Student-Athlete Services
By: Ben Segelbaum
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - His bio on Twitter reads "Jugador de tenis." In English this translates to "Player of tennis." These three Spanish words describe only the slightest of who sophomore Antonio Cembellin really is.
The native of Avila, Spain came to the United States for the first time when he was beginning his journey as a Hoosier. Before coming to IU, Cembellin had a decision to make, go to medical school or play tennis at Indiana.
Cembellin chose the sport he's been playing since he was eight and even though his parents are both doctors, it never felt like they were pressuring him to pick either one, although much conversation related to medicine.
"At the end of the day, it's everything you hear so you just like it," Cembellin said.
At IU, Cembellin studies biochemistry where he has the opportunity to get hands-on experience in the lab. Specifically, Cembellin prefers the microbiology side in which he gets to work with DNA.
"I don't see myself as a doctor," Cembellin said. "If I am to go into medicine, I want to have a focus on research."
How he hopes to achieve these goals in the medicine world is where home and abroad differ.
Isabel de Castilla, the higher level education that Cembellin went to in Spain, is the American equivalent to an academy for a specific subject. Isabel de Castilla is as one might have guessed, a school in which science is a specialty.
"It's different, the way you start in the U.S," Cembellin said. "You go for four years and then med school. In Spain if you have the grades, you go right to med school."
Growing up, Cembellin also had a musical taste as he juggled playing eight years of trumpet and five years of piano along with his studies and tennis career. He has put those musical attributes on hold as he is in the midst of learning a balancing act that he admits in his second year can be difficult.
"That's the hardest, you finish practice and you tell your mind you have to go study," Cembellin said. "When you are at practice, you think you have to go home and study. When you're at home studying or in class, you start thinking about going to practice."
With Cembellin still getting acclimated to this balancing act of all the different things he does in life, he knows that he is lucky with the way the United States can multi-task.
"I really like how you guys handle that you can play tennis and study," Cembellin said. "For me, that's the best thing of the U.S.A. In high school (in Spain), you can play tennis but in the university you can't. In Spain, no one is going to give you time for practice and also all these different classes."
After his career at IU is over, Cembellin has another decision to make. With the skills under his belt in sports, academics and even music, he won't have trouble making a right one.
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - His bio on Twitter reads "Jugador de tenis." In English this translates to "Player of tennis." These three Spanish words describe only the slightest of who sophomore Antonio Cembellin really is.
The native of Avila, Spain came to the United States for the first time when he was beginning his journey as a Hoosier. Before coming to IU, Cembellin had a decision to make, go to medical school or play tennis at Indiana.
Cembellin chose the sport he's been playing since he was eight and even though his parents are both doctors, it never felt like they were pressuring him to pick either one, although much conversation related to medicine.
"At the end of the day, it's everything you hear so you just like it," Cembellin said.
At IU, Cembellin studies biochemistry where he has the opportunity to get hands-on experience in the lab. Specifically, Cembellin prefers the microbiology side in which he gets to work with DNA.
"I don't see myself as a doctor," Cembellin said. "If I am to go into medicine, I want to have a focus on research."
How he hopes to achieve these goals in the medicine world is where home and abroad differ.
Isabel de Castilla, the higher level education that Cembellin went to in Spain, is the American equivalent to an academy for a specific subject. Isabel de Castilla is as one might have guessed, a school in which science is a specialty.
"It's different, the way you start in the U.S," Cembellin said. "You go for four years and then med school. In Spain if you have the grades, you go right to med school."
Growing up, Cembellin also had a musical taste as he juggled playing eight years of trumpet and five years of piano along with his studies and tennis career. He has put those musical attributes on hold as he is in the midst of learning a balancing act that he admits in his second year can be difficult.
"That's the hardest, you finish practice and you tell your mind you have to go study," Cembellin said. "When you are at practice, you think you have to go home and study. When you're at home studying or in class, you start thinking about going to practice."
With Cembellin still getting acclimated to this balancing act of all the different things he does in life, he knows that he is lucky with the way the United States can multi-task.
"I really like how you guys handle that you can play tennis and study," Cembellin said. "For me, that's the best thing of the U.S.A. In high school (in Spain), you can play tennis but in the university you can't. In Spain, no one is going to give you time for practice and also all these different classes."
After his career at IU is over, Cembellin has another decision to make. With the skills under his belt in sports, academics and even music, he won't have trouble making a right one.
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