Senior Miray Konar can be seen doing two of her favorite interests on the tennis court since coming from Izmir, Turkey. During games, she is contributing to the Elon University women’s tennis team’s 8-3 record. When the tennis team isn’t playing, she is attracting a huge following online as a social media influencer.
Konar regularly posts content of her daily life on her Instagram and TikTok accounts which have generated over 320,000 combined followers. Her reels on Instagram regularly get hundreds of thousands of views, sometimes millions.
She said her mom was a big reason why she became interested in this hobby after seeing her enjoyment of social media.
“My mom was a huge social media person,” Konar said. “She has whole albums and everything, and I was always a big fan of posting. She was always a big role model and that’s what really gave me the love for posting things.”
Konar said she realized how impactful social media can be as her platform continued to grow. She was amazed by the number of people she could actually reach out to within a month through posting content. With her ability to utilize a large platform, Konar said she sometimes looks to reach out to as many as 60 million a month.
Konar said that she also wants to be truthful in her posting regardless of whether she’s having a good or bad day. She pointed out how most people will post as if everything is perfect.
“When you look at social media, you’d think everyone has perfect lives,” Konar said. “I felt like if I wanted to post my life, it has to be more realistic. It’s normal to have a bad day but also a good day too.”
Konar said this approach allows her to continue keeping up with her content.
“I think it’s made me a lot more sustainable,” Konar said. “I don’t know anyone out there who is constantly happy and having a perfect life.”
Konar’s teammates such as junior Madison Cordisco have also admired her work on social media. Cordisco said she initially didn’t know about Konar’s platform, but immediately recognized Konar’s creativity as an influencer once she found out about it.
“The way she does all her videos, we really enjoy it,” Cordisco said. “She always has these great ideas and different TikToks we can post on our tennis Instagram account.”
Cordisco also said Konar’s ideas generate attention for the team, which has been beneficial for recruiting new members.
Cordisco said she is most impressed by Konar’s ability to devote time to both activities. She praised Konar for excelling in both areas.
“It’s very inspiring that she can do all of these things and still have a very good performance on the court,” Cordisco said. “It shows all of her dedication to tennis and her hobbies outside of tennis.”
Konar said she believes there are lessons that can be translated from social media to tennis. She explained the importance of being consistent in both areas and sticking to habits that are beneficial.
“Consistency is a big thing,” Konar said. “Posting every day and interacting with your followers is like tennis. We got to practice every day. We go out there, hit tennis balls, and do the same things.”
She has been a key factor in the Elon University women’s tennis team’s strong start so far, and remains undefeated in singles with a 4-0 record and is 4-4 in doubles.
Konar said her increased confidence has played an integral role in her performance. She said this helped her learn from her initial struggles.
She also credited assistant coach Ashe Ray. She said he’s improved her skills during doubles matches, particularly when she plays closer to the net. He has focused on helping her keep her confidence, Konar said.
Konar said she hopes to be an inspiration for Turkish athletes who are also playing sports and attending a university. She said her account can let athletes know that it is possible to balance out multiple responsibilities even with the demands of being an athlete.
“I was always seeing this as a chance to give younger athletes in Turkey sports a way,” Konar said. “It is very hard to do a professional sport and university classes at the same time, so I was always trying to inspire them.”
Konar said she plans to continue enjoying both activities for the remainder of her senior year.
“I just want to do the things I love, and tennis and social media are two things that are always going to be in my life,” Konar said.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content
