Tiffany Chen graduated in 2016. She was a second-place IHSA state finalist in tennis in 2015 and was also a three-time DVC champion as well as a three-time IHSA sectional champion. She was ranked number two in Illinois while at Central. She continued to play tennis at Princeton after graduation.
Q: How do you feel about being inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame?
A: It’s great to be back at Central. I think it’s very easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life as an adult now, but being back, it’s reminded me how special of a place Central is, and the memories that I had and the friendships that I made and the teachers that supported me. So it feels really special.
Q: What lessons have you learned since graduating Central that would be helpful to students today?
A: What seems so important and scary in the moment is never actually that scary in hindsight. So don’t let the fear eat you up, you will actually not remember the mistakes you make along the way. So just make sure to live your life, life will throw you some punches, and you gotta roll with them.
Q: What was the highlight of your experience at Central or what are you most proud of?
A: I’m most proud of winning the state championship when I was a sophomore. And what I really remember is my team swarming me and everything just being lost in the excitement from our team just doing really well overall in the state championship. And naturally, obviously, winning it was a surprise. And so that was really delightful. But yeah, I would say that that was really special.
Q: What message or advice do you have for our current students?
A: Life is probably not going to turn out how you expect it, and it’ll probably be better. So you can make a plan, try to work toward your goals, but stay flexible, stay humble. It’s probably going to be different than what you expected. It’s probably going to be better.
Q: What do you think about where women’s athletics is today?
A: Women’s athletics has certainly made a big stride in terms of being important in the national psyche. I know watching the rise of Caitlin Clark has been really special, but I do think we still have a long way to go, and I think it’s very easy to be complacent and thinking just because we have some structures in place to try to bring equality, it doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re actually there as a culture. So I think it’s important to still be actively working towards getting women’s sports the recognition it deserves.
For more on the 2025 inductees, click here.
