Going to college is a weird and difficult thing. Transferring can make meeting people even harder. That’s why The Stampede sat down with sophomore business management major Mason Grear to get to know him a little better. Grear transferred to Milligan for the spring semester.
Grear, who has been playing tennis since he was four years old, started college at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He chose to commit to UTC to follow his dreams of playing and competing at a D1 school. However, when he got there his view of D1 tennis changed drastically.
“I found that it was hard to build strong relationships with my teammates and coach. I also didn’t take school seriously at UTC,” Grear said.
Grear became depressed due to the difficulty of school and the lack of comradery with his team. He quit playing tennis and decided to go to University of Tennessee Knoxville to be a “normal” college student. He thought that tennis was what was bringing him down.
“I was unable to get my head on straight and continued to be depressed, so I decided to withdraw before I even finished my first semester at UT,” Grear said. “I could tell a few things were absent from my life, like, I wasn’t going to church and I lost my individuality in a frat, so I withdrew.”
In the spring of 2016, Grear transferred to Pellissippi State Community College in Knoxville to try and get his grades on track, but he still didn’t care and wasn’t in the right headspace.
“I messed up my first spring semester and summer semester. I messed up so badly that I couldn’t go anywhere else, because my GPA was so bad,” Grear said. “I decided I didn’t want to waste any more money and needed to get my head on straight, so I started to care about school and take it one day at a time.”
Grear improved his GPA in the fall and started playing tennis again. He was finally becoming “Mason” again. He rediscovered his passions and started really getting back on track.
Then Taylor Graalman, a junior tennis player from Milligan, asked if he was interested in playing college tennis, and, if so, that the coach, Ryan Reynolds, would be interested in talking to Grear.
“I don’t know how it all happened, but it lined up so perfectly,” Grear said. “Literally, right when I got back into the sport, I got my grades on track, and was becoming happy with my life again. It was 100 percent an opportunity from God. He opened the doors for me to flourish into the man I’m meant to be, and that’s the best thing that’s happened in my life.”
Grear met with coach Reynolds and toured the campus and found only genuine people, which he said was difficult to do at other schools.
“In that battle of ups and downs, God found a school for me that was a perfect fit to mold me to an outstanding individual,” Grear said. “I’m just blessed to be able to work on becoming a better student, athlete, person and Christian and to be able to build relationships that will last a lifetime in this wonderful environment.”
Q&A WITH MASON GREAR
Stampede: How many times do you think you’ll be mistakenly related to Bill Greer?
Mason: Probably six times (laughs).
S: What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?
M: Mint chocolate chip.
S: Who are your favorite bands/artists?
M: Homeshake, Chance the Rapper, Frank Ocean, Isaiah Rashad, Kanye West is like GOAT, Kendrick Lamar, Mac Demarco, Passion Pit, Sampha, Anderson, Paak, Two Door Cinema Club was my teenage angst, Brockhampton, Tyler the Creator, Vampire Weekend, Lorde and Amy Winehouse.
S: Do you have any pets?
M: I have a dachshund named Dixon. My mom named him Dixon, because I’m Mason, so, like, the Mason-Dixon line.
S: Are you normally early or late?
M: Early (please don’t read this, Dr. Miller).
S: What do you binge on Netflix the most?
M: “Planet Earth.” I love nature stuff. And “Planet Earth 2.” Also nature documentaries, I learn so much, and knowledge is power. “Stranger Things” I also binged in, like, a week.
S: If you could go to any event–past, present or future–where would you go and why?
M: Wimbledon, obviously, because tennis. I would go to the 2010 Wimbledon, though, because John Isner and Nicolas Mahut played a three-day match. It was such a historic match. And it’s the only major tennis tournament on grass.
S: What are your favorite books?
M: “Animal Farm”, “Go Dog. Go!” and “Lord of the Flies.”
S: Do you have any social medias?
M: @masongrear on Instagram, @masongrear on Snapchat, Mason Grear on Facebook. Hit me up there or on campus, and we’ll have a genuine conversation. Good vibes only. Go buffs!