the greatest thing in my college life is now finished. i’m no longer a varsity athlete. i’m now a varsity alumnus.
to preface: there is this guy on our team, a pretty good ep eist, who could be so much better if he applied himself. unfortunately, he feels no need to come to practice or act as a teammate in any way since he is a scholarship recruit. apparently he told my captain that he is tired of fencing and that our coach cannot do anything about it if he chooses not to work hard. this team member also chooses not to stay with the team during competitions he is always off alone sleeping somewhere when the rest of us are fencing. the worst, however, is how he treats our opponents. he humiliates them by showing his complete and utter contempt in the form of grandstanding, blatantly obvious and intentional. he’ll squat on strip and stay there, or remain in a lunge, or after an easy touch against an opponent will yell ‘woo-hoo’ in a ‘you mean nothing to me’ kind of way.
so in the individual tournament i end up having to fence this guy in the direct elimination rounds. everyone wanted me to beat him, even our own teammates. especially since he doesn’t even respect us. i did my best, but lost 13–15. what is infuriating about that is, he is still good enough to beat me despite all the effort i put forth to fence well and the negligible amount he exerts. so endeth my collegiate fencing career. i was pissed i wanted to win so badly, and immediately after the bout i realized that it was all over. i’m sure it had been floating around subconsciously in my head but after it was done i had to hit the showers as quickly as possible to do a bit of crying. i can still do my bit to help the team, but any true tangible effect resulting from my actual fencing will never be again.
it was great while it lasted. and i hope the memories last much longer.