arthur ashe leadership award
No one embodies the “Student, Person, Player” motto of Embry-Riddle Athletics more than Jessica Christa Wira Hadipoernomo. Simply put, she is the whole package and then some. Jessica embodies the whole picture as student-athlete, human-being and teammate. She boasts an impressive cumulative 4.0 GPA while completing both a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in computational mathematics accelerated program.
Jessica is the type of person who if she does something, she does it right. Some of her accolades includ Bio-Inspired Design for Resilience (BID4R) Lab (June 2023 - Present), Research: Sandpiper Food Search Algorithm (SFSA) - A New Optimization Approach, she has built and maintains the lab's website, ERAU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Representative (Aug 2023 - Present), ERAU Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) - Leadership Team (Advertisement Team) (Aug 2023 - Present), ERAU International Student Organization - Public Relations Officer (Jul 2022-May 2023), ERAU Mathematics Department, Shrinivas Dalal Memorial Endowed Scholarship 2022-23, ERAU Athletics, Steve & Vicky Ridder Scholarship Finalist, 2022-23 & 2023-2024, ERAU Athletics, Eagles of Excellence Scholarship Recipient, 2022-23, ERAU Women's Tennis, Most Valuable Player Award, 2022-23, ERAU Housing and Residence Life, Student Assistant of the Year, 2022-23 and ERAU Academic Advancement Center, Chemistry Tutor of the Month, March 2023.
She also goes above and beyond for her teammates, stringing tennis racquets for the team, hitting more tennis balls than anyone on the team, and has a “first one there, last one to leave” mentality as she is always first to suggest a community service activity, pick up the trash, first at practice, and dumps our water coolers to be refilled for the following day. If at away matches, she does the same thing at other team’s facilities because as Jessica would say, “It’s just the right thing to do!”
This year she is an impressive 18-1 on the season playing in the toughest conference in NCAA Division II. Her teammates adore her because of her consistency, passion, joyful spirit, and her enthusiasm to always get better in every way that she can.
A Quote from the Head Coach
“What an honor and a privilege for Jessica to receive the ITA National Arthur Ashe and Leadership Award. To know Jessica is to know someone who is selfless, a supportive teammate and team player, strives for excellence, and someone who wants to make others around her better.
She is someone who sees the best in everyone and truly wants to make the environment around her better while sticking to her own personal values and beliefs. Jessica is the true definition of what this recognition stands for and I couldn’t be more proud of her and grateful to have her on our team and part of our institution. Thank you Jessica for being you and for your support and care of others!” - Head Coach Chad Berryhill