Tracee Herbert joined StreetSquash with an open-mind as a middle schooler back in 2009. Like many participants, she got a nudge from her parents to give it a try. For her, having never played sports before, it was a completely new experience.
“I never considered myself to be a sporty or athletic person,” Tracee said. “So I remember feeling nervous because it was completely different from anything I’ve ever been a part of.”
Tracee was part of the program throughout all of middle school. But after getting accepted into a high school downtown, she stepped away from the program in 9th and 10th grade but returned for her final two years of high school.
Despite the two years away from the program, she says everyone she met at StreetSquash greatly shaped the person she is today.
“It’s definitely the relationships you make with the staff and your peers,” Tracee said. “I feel like they’re literally part of the fabric of who I am.”
She says her time at StreetSquash helped accelerate her path forward.
“Everyone who worked at StreetSquash saw me grow up and saw my highs and lows of growing up,” Tracee said. “I was becoming a teenager and making that transition from high school to college so there was definitely a lot of growth while at StreetSquash.”
She was grateful for having guidance through the college experience and even having the opportunity to spend time on a college campus while in high school.
She completed a two week program at the University of Rochester while at StreetSquash and also had the chance to do many college visits.
“It was always great knowing that there were people who had my back,” Tracee said. “That communal family is something I’ll never forget.”
She added that her high school didn’t have the best college access program.
“I did all my college applications at StreetSquash,” Tracee said. “About a month before decision day, my school finally told people they would help everyone with their applications. And I told them that I had applied already. I was grateful to say I had support through that process where my traditional school wasn’t able to help.”
Tracee also says the reason she got a passport is because of StreetSquash.
“We did the service trip to Cartagena, Colombia, and a group of us went to Squash Urbano,” Tracee said. “Not only was I able to immerse myself in a different culture, but I was able to communicate with people I didn’t know the language with through squash. It was a great bonding experience with students and staff.”
She says that trip got her excited to travel more.
“It was one of the best highlights of my life,” Tracee said. “It really opened me up to exploring and learning about new people and new cultures.”
After high school, Tracee went to the University of Albany. She majored in marketing with a minor in theater.
“Another great thing about StreetSquash is after we graduated high school, our relationship didn’t cease to exist,” Tracee said. “It was great having someone from StreetSquash come and check in once a year to make sure everything was going well.”
During college she did an internship at StreetSquash after her sophomore year. Following her junior year she interned with some of her marketing professors and also worked at MCC Theater, an off-broadway theater in Manhattan.
She graduated in 2020 in the midst of the pandemic. But in 2021, she got a job at a digital marketing company doing social media management on behalf of various Broadway shows. She also was assisting with event coverage and had the opportunity to attend many opening nights of Broadway shows. She did that until December 2023. Now she works as the Marketing Manager for Roundabout Theater Company.
She’s also currently enrolled in a Master’s Program at Pace University in their Communications and Digital Media program. Upon her graduation in 2025, she hopes to transition into the TV and film industry and move away from the theater world.
If she was talking to a middle schooler about joining StreetSquash today, she’d tell them, “just say yes and go into it with an open mind,” Tracee said. “You never know where it can lead you.”
She says that for her, StreetSquash opened up a whole new way of thinking.
“Being exposed to so many different ideas through squash has allowed me to be very open-minded,” Tracee said. “Just learning how to network and talk to people has been very beneficial to my job experience.”
