As the 2016-17 season winds to a close, so does high school for several of our athletes. These athletes have been an integral part of our club and we would like to honor them here.

Jacob Allen

I’m graduating from Holly Spring HS where I am “Senior Class Salutatorian”. During my time at HSHS I was a member of the High School-Robotic, NHS and Math Honor Society.

This fall I will attend Georgia Tech University where I plan on studying Computer science. My goal is to have a career in programming.

I started fencing with AFA in 2013 after stopping Tae Kwon Do — I wanted to stay physically active. I initially joined a summer camp and loved it, so I decided to continue with regular practices.

We know it’s difficult to keep fencing while achieving the highest level of academic awards and being active in other activities in High School, so we asked Jacob how he did it: “Keep your focus, put school first, and always make sure you’re not overworking yourself”.

His advice to the younger fencers about fencing and academics: “Figure out the limits of what you can do at any one time and don’t push yourself too hard.”

Jack Bess

I started fencing when I was 13, in the Beginning 1 class, because I started getting fat and lazy and I needed to work out again and I enjoyed hitting people with sticks.

I attended Holly Springs HS and I graduated with Honors and was in the HSTC Holly Springs Theater Company.

In the fall, I’ll be attending NC State to master in Physics. Ultimately, I plan to move on to Graduate school to get a PhD in Astronomy. NC State has a fencing club, and I’m looking forward to fencing there.  My friends Kelly, Genetta and Joe have fenced there.

Doing well in School was easy enough, but balancing my fencing and theater schedule was hard. I just had to work it out and sometimes drive from rehearsal to fencing in 5 minutes.

His advice on balancing school & fencing, “Make sure you work hard and honestly. A lot of fencers are pretty smart, so if you go to practice ask for some help and stuff you don’t understand.”

Andrew Fregenal

My first fencing experience was at the Cary Academy Summer Camp in the summer of 2011. The instructors were Jeff Kallio and Joey Lew from Mid-South Fencers Club. I really enjoyed the experience and wanted to continue with the sport. We found Apex Fencing Academy on-line and joined immediately.

I attended Cardinal Gibbons High School and graduated in the top 10% of my class. I was a member of the National Honor Society and achieved the All “A” Honor roll each year throughout high school. Activities that I participated in included the National Honor Society, Varsity Track and Cross Country, the Middle School Leadership Council (Co-Director), Academic Team, and The Shelton Leadership Challenge at NC State University from 2014-2017.

I will be attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill majoring in Biology on the pre-med track. My intention is to focus on cancer research and medical oncology possibly in a MD/PhD program.

I will be a member of the UNC Division I Men’s Fencing Team with Coach Ron Miller.

Whether you are participating in a sport or not, doing well in high school is really about time management and ensuring that the work needs to be done, gets done. Going into a week knowing your practice schedule and budgeting time for homework around practice, goes a long way in keeping stress levels down. Whenever I got a new assignment or had a test scheduled, I wrote it on a whiteboard in my room and I gave each assignment a specific due date. I actually keep a second white board calendar for exams, extracurriculars and social events. Having a time management system can go a long way in staying organized, especially for someone like myself that is a visual learner.

Obviously, academics are the most important priority for any successful student, but maintaining good grades and becoming a competitive fencer are both absolutely possible. My advice is to think about your relationship to fencing and manage your time around that. If you find fencing to be a fun hobby and you are only practicing recreationally once or twice a week, do not stress about trying to balance everything. Do the things you have to do so that you can do the things you want to do. If you are like me and you are practicing multiple times a week, traveling to local and national competitions, and are pursuing collegiate fencing, managing time is more difficult, but it is doable. Find a system for managing practice, assignments, or any other extracurricular that works and have someone hold you accountable for it, whether it be a parent, a friend, or coach. Most importantly, remember that fencing is supposed to be fun, and do not focus so much on being perfect that you lose the passion for the sport.

Khalif Muhammad

I first tried fencing at around 11 years old when I still lived in New York,  I wanted to be like Link from Legend of Zelda.

I attended Enloe High School

After graduation, I will be attending NC State’s College of Design studying Art and Design. In the future I would like to become a storyboard artist.

I do plan on fencing during and after college. NC State has a fencing club, and if I find time I will definitely join.

When asked how he balances school and fencing, “Schedule balance is key. Also make a to-do list for everything.”

Advice for younger fencers? “The best advice I could give, would be to think. Being able to move fast doesn’t matter when your opponent can read you.”