Sasha Stula - From Japan to Chicago | DePaul University Athletics Stories

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Sasha Stula - From Japan to Chicago

From Japan to Chicago

By Sasha Stula

By the time I arrived at DePaul at 16 years old, moving across the world already felt normal to me.

I had lived in Japan for 12 years, moved to Serbia at 12 to pursue better tennis opportunities, learned English and Serbian from scratch, and then suddenly found myself in Chicago trying to balance college tennis with being a teenager who was still figuring everything out.

A lot of people assume that moving around so much made things easier for me. In some ways, it did. I wasn’t afraid of change anymore. But every move still came with its own challenges.

In Japan, I grew up in a quieter suburban area where everything felt familiar and comfortable. Then I moved to Belgrade, where the city felt bigger, louder, and faster. I loved the energy, but I also remember how lonely it felt at first when I couldn’t communicate with people around me.

When I came to Chicago, I thought I was prepared because I had already moved continents once before. But college was different. I arrived three weeks late because of visa issues, and even before stepping on campus, I was nervous about whether I had made the right decision.

What changed everything for me was the people.

Learning My Way Through Change

Tennis has always been part of my life because of my family. My dad played tennis and coached me growing up, while my mom played volleyball. My brothers and I played both sports when we were younger, but eventually we all had to choose. I picked tennis because I loved competing and pushing myself individually.

Moving to Serbia was mostly about tennis, but it also became the place where I learned how to adapt. At first, I struggled much more with school and language than with tennis. I only spoke Japanese when I arrived, and suddenly every class was in English.

I remember going to school every day knowing it would be difficult just to communicate. Making friends was hard because I’m naturally more reserved, and there were moments where I felt completely outside of everything around me.

It took almost two years before I really felt comfortable there. Once I started building connections and communicating more confidently, my tennis improved too.

Looking back now, I realize how connected those things were. When your mind feels settled and you feel understood by the people around you, everything else becomes easier.

That experience helped prepare me for DePaul, even if I didn’t fully realize it at the time. I already understood that growth takes patience and that discomfort usually comes before confidence.

The Team That Changed Everything

Coming to DePaul was never part of my original plan.

I thought I would stay in Europe after high school and play professional tournaments before eventually going to college. But through a family connection, I got in touch with my head coach, and from our first conversations, I could feel how much she cared about people.

What surprised me most when I arrived was how quickly my teammates accepted me. Nobody even knew I was 16 until I got to campus, and when they found out, they treated me like the youngest sister on the team. Everyone else was older, but it felt like I suddenly had seven older sisters looking out for me.

That support became especially important during my freshman year when I got injured. I started the season playing at the No. 1 spot, but after a couple months, my elbow injury kept me from competing.

Physically, it was frustrating. Mentally, it was even harder. I was far from home, adjusting to college life, and trying to manage everything without another freshman around who understood exactly what I was feeling.

There was a point where I seriously considered stepping away from college tennis. I remember talking to one of my teammates about it, and she told me that if I left, she would lose part of herself too.

That conversation changed me. It made me realize how much I mattered to the people around me and how important it was to keep showing up, even when things felt overwhelming.

When Everything Clicked

This season felt like the payoff for everything I had been through the first two years. My freshman year was injury and adjustment. My sophomore year was about getting healthy again.

This year, I finally felt like I could fully play my game.

I stopped overthinking so much and trusted the work I had already put in. Before matches, I kept the same routine every time, including a 10-minute meditation that helped me settle into the right mindset. Instead of worrying about rankings or records, I kept reminding myself how hard I had worked to get here.

The biggest improvement in my game was steadiness. My coach always talks about how the best college players stay consistent while still being aggressive, and that became my focus.

When I compare videos from my sophomore year to now, the difference is obvious. I make fewer mistakes, stay calmer during long points, and trust myself more.

Winning consistently on Court No. 1 meant a lot to me because it felt like proof that all the difficult moments had a purpose. But honestly, what mattered most was proving to myself that I could keep going after everything that happened earlier in my career.

Coming to DePaul was never part of my original plan.

I thought I would stay in Europe after high school and play professional tournaments before eventually going to college. But through a family connection, I got in touch with my head coach, and from our first conversations, I could feel how much she cared about people.

Why DePaul Became Home

Living in three continents taught me that home is less about a place and more about the people around you.

Japan will always feel like home to me because that’s where I grew up and where my family still lives. Serbia shaped me into the person I became as a teenager. But DePaul gave me a community during one of the hardest transitions of my life.

Our team is completely international, so everyone understands what it feels like to leave home and adjust to something unfamiliar. I think that’s why we’re so connected. We all come from different backgrounds, but we listen to each other and respect each other’s experiences.

This year, my parents finally came to watch me play in Chicago for the first time. Knowing they were in the stands motivated me so much because I wanted them to see that all the sacrifices were worth it. Even in one match I lost while they were here, I still felt proud because I stayed positive and competed the way I wanted to.

Now I’m preparing for my final season while also stepping into more of a leadership role. That’s still something I’m learning because of how I grew up respecting older people in Japanese culture, but I know I’ve become more confident over time. I want to help new teammates feel welcomed the same way my teammates helped me when I arrived at 16 years old.

More than anything, I’ve learned that hard work eventually shows itself. Sometimes it takes longer than you expect, but if you keep grinding and trust the process, the results will come.