You know, I have a pretty distinct memory from an Edmonton Open or some other competition this past year. I forgot how well I did, but I definitely lost my final match and I don't think I made it into the finals. And I remember on the way home, that was one of the first times I ever really got mad about losing in a competition. And I told my dad who was driving me home that I wouldn't quit fencing until I won a gold medal. This past weekend, that finally came true. The journey of getting here itself was a mess, with a fair bit of luck involved. I didn't directly qualify to represent my home region, nor did I come second in the qualifiers; instead, I tied for third and was sent to fence for a different zone, a small region outside Calgary. I was afraid that, me being an introvert and all, it would end up with me awkwardly sitting somewhere inbetween both teams and not really talking to anyone, but actually it ended up better than I could even have hoped. Their team was super welcoming and I got along well right from the start. There's not much I have to say about the actual event (Men's Sabre). There were 8 fencers, one from each zone, and to be honest, I think a lot of the fencers from the zones not in major cities were relatively new. It was really only the other two fencers from the Edmonton Fencing Club that posed a big challenge to me. Luckily, after round robins, I was placed on the other side of the bracket from them, so I essentially already had a ticket to the finals. Not to say it was a breeze, especially given the pressure I had put on myself, but no super close matches. I went into the finals against one of my long-term adversaries. We scored point after point against each other and seemed to be evenly matched. But he knew as well as I did that in terms of physical stamina, I was running out, so even though I had a bit of a lead in the first half, he gradually caught up until eventually we were tied at match point. In that moment, I almost froze out of hesitation. Would I try and predict his movements and go for a risky move? Or just try and win in terms of speed and risk being caught in a trap? I stepped back to the en garde line. The referee said "Ready? Fence!" and I shot off the line as fast as I could toward him... and I scored the touch. That must have been one of the exhilarating moments of my life. I mean, sure, solving math problems is fun, but it's nothing like the fierce sense of victory that comes from sport. Even though I was representing a zone other than my own, the thought never crossed my mind to intentionally give the match to my opponent. Why would it? We were in a fencing match, and I was there to win. I'm glad I decided to continue with fencing throughout high school. As much as I might not want to leave home while I'm sitting at my computer, there's not quite anything else in my life that matches that level of energy and action.