I did not grow up in Brooklyn. I grew up in the south of France, around the tennis courts of the Monte Carlo Country Club, where I spent years behind the scenes stringing rackets, sometimes for some of the world’s top 10 players. As a woman in that space, it was unusual, and it taught me early on how to navigate environments where I did not naturally belong.
That world shaped my discipline. But my path eventually led me somewhere very different.
I pursued law, a journey that brought me to the United Nations, where I worked in an international and diplomatic environment. Along the way, I had the honor of receiving a letter of recommendation from a United Nations Under Secretary General.
From the outside, it might look like a story about progress, about moving forward step by step. But this story is also about Brooklyn.
The first time I came to New York, I found myself in Greenpoint. And something shifted.
It was in the quiet rhythm of the streets, in the coffee shops, in the conversations with locals, in that very specific mix of calm and ambition that I had not experienced anywhere else. It was a place that did not try to impress, yet somehow made you feel that anything was possible.
Greenpoint welcomed me before New York did. What surprised me most was how familiar it felt.
Coming from the tennis world, I had spent years as a stringer, working quietly behind the scenes. And in Brooklyn, I unexpectedly recognized that same spirit. The presence of a travelling stringer, moving across neighborhoods like Fort Greene, offering his craft wherever it is needed, reminded me of where I came from. There was something deeply grounding in that. It made Brooklyn feel less like a new place, and more like a continuation of my own story.
It is also where I grew into the woman I am today. I still remember a very specific moment. On my birthday, sitting at Domino Park, I had a realization. I wanted to stay here. I wanted to build my life in Brooklyn and become a lawyer in New York. That was the turning point.
At the time, it felt distant, almost unrealistic. Today, it feels within reach.
I have been admitted to Fordham Law School. This step does not feel like starting from nothing. It feels like moving forward with purpose, grounded in a promise I made to myself right here in Brooklyn.
But stories like this are not only built on ambition. They are also shaped by access, by opportunity, and by the support that allows determination to turn into reality.
Meritocracy is often spoken about as an abstract idea. But in reality, it requires more than hard work. It requires bridges. As I take this next step, I am also navigating the very real challenges that come with pursuing this path as an international student.
I have chosen to share my journey openly, including seeking support to help make this transition possible. Not as a way to ask for sympathy, but as a way to stay aligned with the values that brought me here, transparency, effort, and belief in the power of collective support.
If there is one thing Brooklyn has taught me, it is that communities matter. That places like Greenpoint do not just shape individuals, they support them.
I hope this story also speaks to the young people of Brooklyn, to remind them that talent is already here, that ambition lives here, and that paths can begin locally and extend far beyond what they might imagine.
At its core, this is a tennis story. A New York story. A story about belief. But more than anything, it is a Brooklyn story.
Nawal Nourid is a Brooklyn resident and an incoming LL.M. student at Fordham Law School.
