Column: Work ethic on and off tennis court serves three Harvard-bound East Aurora students well

Chicago Tribune

21-05-2025

Jesus Fernandez might not have bragging rights when it comes to his win/loss record this year, but the East Aurora High School boys varsity tennis coach has yet to find anyone who can match this newsworthy statistic: Three members of his team are heading to Harvard University after graduation.
To say he's excited would be a bit of an understatement, and in fact, when I spoke to Fernandez about the accomplishments of Kevin Martinez, Hector Montellano-Bahena and Paul Perez, the coach was as proud as any parent could be.
That's because he's seen up close the work ethic and determination that not only propelled this trio to the top of the 2025 graduating class but also got them full academic rides to one of the most prestigious universities in the world.
'None of them are afraid to face a challenge,' Fernandez said, noting all three are students who come from humble backgrounds with far more love than money in the home but whose immigrant parents sacrificed so much so their children would have a chance at a better life.
It's no surprise then that all three soon-to-be-grads point to their parents as the inspiration for their remarkable accomplishments.
For Kevin, who is East High's valedictorian, it was seeing the 'blisters and bruises on the hands of my father,' whose long days of manual labor 'fueled my ambition.'
For Hector, it was watching the tears on his mother's face after losing her father and brother within a few months but not being able to go back to Mexico to say good-bye that made him work harder.
For Paul, the 2025 salutatorian, it was the 'backbreaking work' his father put in, day after day, as well as all those 'speed bumps in life my mother took.'
'Their parents were superheroes,' said Fernandez, noting that, from the moment the boys stepped onto his tennis courts – Paul as a sophomore, Hector and Kevin not until their junior years – 'they were determined' to be successful, working long hours to hone their skills while also showing respect and kindness for everyone else on the courts.
Their energy, he added, 'was contagious to the whole team.'
Kevin, the first to be accepted by Harvard, harbored the longest desire to attend the elite school. The youngest of five siblings, he remembers being about 10 when he first told his mother, who worked as a housekeeper, about his future college, although he knew little else about it except that it was considered the best of the best.
Kevin, a Coca-Cola and Bill Gates Scholarship winner who was student representative on the East Aurora school board, admits to being stressed out at times as he worked 'to be the best version of myself,' maintaining two restaurant jobs, participating in numerous sports and extracurricular activities while also keeping up his 4.9 grade point average.
As hard as it sometimes got, he told me, 'it can't be as bad' as what dad Jose and mom Rosa went through to make sure he was given so many opportunities.
A big weight was taken off his shoulders, however, when Kevin, who wants to study economics, learned in December he had been accepted into Harvard's early admissions program. And he really 'flipped out' three months later upon hearing that Paul – and then Hector – also were greeted with congratulations when opening that portal displaying their much-anticipated Harvard response.
'We were accepted as change-makers,' insisted Kevin, who is convinced that all three are 'motivated by something bigger than ourselves,' representing not only their hard-working immigrant families but also East Aurora School District 131 and its too-often stigmatized minority population.
'The Hispanic community is suffering a lot,' agreed Hector, whose parents are Noemi and Celzo Montellano. Hector plans to study political science and become a business or immigration lawyer.
Paul, on the other hand, is not sure of his major, only that he wants to 'create a better future' for himself and his parents, Tomas and Francesca, who taught him the value of hard work.
'I am not looking for approval from the outside,' said Paul, who admits he's the more reserved of the trio. 'I did this for my family.'
While he and his Harvard-bound buddies do, indeed, give all the credit to their parents for such remarkable success so far in life, they found plenty of inspiration from their tennis coach, who was a lawyer before immigrating from Spain and now is the bilingual preschool teacher at Oak Park Elementary School.
He is, they all agreed, the reason they came so far so quickly in a sport they had never before played, and why they developed such a love for tennis, which they hope to continue playing at the intramural level in college.
'I had a lot of coaches growing up' who only paid attention to the stars, said Paul, whose senior year on the courts was interrupted by a shoulder injury. 'But Coach looks after everybody, treats every player the same no matter what their ability.'
Fernandez and all three sets of parents were in attendance on Monday when Kevin, Hector and Paul were honored at this week's District 131 school board meeting. While these top-level grads have earned too many awards to list in this column, I got the impression this evening was special because it was filled not only with recognition and pride but also tremendous gratitude.
'That was truly beautiful to me,' said Hector, referring to his father's presence in the audience, who he knew was dead-tired after putting in one of his usual 15-hour work days.
'He sacrificed so much to make sure we were OK.'