It’s a name you don’t often hear in the recaps and highlights. She doesn’t get much playing time. She hardly plays inside the main stadium. But ask anyone on the women’s tennis team who the glue of the squad is, and they won’t hesitate before naming senior Jennifer Yen as the person who truly unites the team.

“We call her the glue on the team,” said sophomore Mallory Burdette. “That’s kind of been our thing with her this year. She’s our glue.”

A local girl from just across the Bay in Fremont, Yen has a love for her product design curriculum, something which her teammates say she has a lot of natural talent for. Product design classes—combined with a devotion to her religion and her team—make Yen one of those ideal Stanford candidates, a well-rounded person who is a pleasure to spend time with.

“To Jen, Stanford is just the perfect place,” Burdette detailed. “She has so many different sides to her. Stanford, I think, allows her to bring out all those sides of her. If I could say anyone is the epitome of a Stanford student, I would say that is Jen.”

Fellow senior Hilary Barte is one of the girls who has known Yen the longest, and their friendship has deepened to the point where they have nicknames for each other that describe exactly how much each person cares about the other.

“She might get mad at me for telling you this, but I actually call her kidney sister,” Barte said. “If I needed a kidney, she would give it to me and if she needed one, I would give it to her. That captures the relationship. She is the best and truest friend I could have asked for.”

Everyone has experienced the uncertainty that comes with freshman fall quarter, and it is out of that uncertainty that Barte and Yen’s friendship developed. Yen stepped up to stay at Barte’s side when she needed her most.

“Freshman year, we had our physicals and it turned out I had something that needed attention,” Barte explained. “I had to go to all these meetings really early in the morning. She [Yen] voluntarily came to all of them with me. From then on, I knew right away that she was a real friend I could count on for life,” she said. “I can’t say enough good things about her. She saved me so many times throughout Stanford that I feel forever indebted to her.”

The roster’s third senior, Carolyn McVeigh, chose her words carefully when describing Yen and her interactions with teammates and friends.

“The first word would have to be compassionate,” McVeigh said. “She’s always forward looking and really aware of how everyone else is doing. She’s trying to make sure everyone else is doing well before she takes care of herself. She cares a ton about the team and her friends.

“Genuine is another,” McVeigh continued. “She’s just very true to herself. She says what she means and she’s one of those honest people. She’s always herself and never tries to change her behavior depending on whom she’s with. She’s true to her identity and her goals.”

Burdette points out Yen’s calm confidence as one thing she gets the most strength from.

“Regardless of whether she plays or not, I feel like one of the greatest things about Jen is that she stays calm throughout everything,” Burdette explained. “No matter what’s happening, whether things are really tense out on the court or tense off the court, you can always look to Jen and see someone who is relaxed. That’s huge to have someone like that on our team.”

On a personal level, Burdette says she has learned from Yen to not be as harsh on herself and others in all areas of her life. Yen can see all sides to a problem and has a greater capacity to forgive than most.

“She’s just very understanding and she sees things from all sides,” Burdette said. “That’s one of the biggest things I’ve learned from Jen. I’m not nearly as good at it as she is, but as a leader, as a captain, she just sees things from all sides. She has a very good understanding of where everyone stands and what’s really going on.”

Yen is the figure on the team that the girls go to first for support in all matters, tennis or not.

“She’s just absolutely invaluable,” Barte said. “We wouldn’t be a team without her. She puts in so much effort, emotionally and physically, but I think more than anything, we all know we can always count on her. No matter what your problem is, she is the first person to call you and ask if you’re alright, to be there and give you a hug, or just be there with you,” she said. “She [Yen] is absolutely pivotal to the team.”

With graduation almost upon the three seniors, they have started to consider the uncomfortable idea of being apart. However, both Barte and McVeigh expressed their absolute certainty that multiple decades later, their friendship will be as strong as it is today.

“Jen is going to be one of my lifelong friends,” McVeigh said with a laugh. “It’s cheesy, but I can’t imagine going a year without seeing her. I will definitely stay in touch with her until we’re in our 60s and 70s, wearing our Stanford tennis shirts in the crowd acting ridiculous and loving Stanford. Our relationship is unbreakable. “