#SoCaltech: Simon Hu

“I only play tennis recreationally, but what’s great about ACEing Autism is that there’s no tennis experience required. Also, the barrier to entry for tennis is very low. People can get better quickly, and that’s what makes the kids so excited to come back.

“One of my students is a 12-year-old girl named Sophia whose mom wrote to us that [her daughter] went the whole baseball season with her hands by her side. She never picked up a bat, never swung. On her first day with us, she sat in the corner and didn't talk. I tell parents that to get kids to open up, you need to take baby steps. If I ask them something like, ‘Do you want to work on forehand or backhand?’ They always say no.’ So I learned to ask, ‘Do you want to run around, or do you want to throw a ball?’ She said, ‘I’ll throw a ball.’ We took baby steps. Next was getting her to hold a ball, and then to throw it. Sophia eventually came out of her shell and became one of the best players in the program. I have always loved teaching, and this program has made my love for teaching even stronger.”

Simon Hu is a third-year undergraduate majoring in computation and neural systems. A member of Caltech’s swim and dive team, Hu searched for an activity that would fulfill his passion for teaching when he arrived on campus. He found ACEing Autism, a nonprofit that aims to help children with autism spectrum disorder grow, develop, and benefit from social connections and fitness through tennis. The group’s volunteers work with children at more than 130 sites across the country, including Caltech, where Hu serves as a coach along with fellow Caltech students Kyle McCandless (BS ’24) and Yoyo Benchetrit.

#SoCaltech is an occasional series celebrating the diverse individuals who give Caltech its spirit of excellence, ambition, and ingenuity. Know someone we should profile? Send nominations to magazine@caltech.edu.