I heard the ringing of the buzzer as the sword hit my torso. “So this is how it ends,” I thought, “it was only my first time.” I somehow still felt accomplished. I was enjoying myself. I can always do better next time. I took off my helmet and shook my opponent's hand. I was finally at an official USFA fencing tournament and I was proud of myself for at least scoring a few points.

It was a Saturday morning. I got up early and went to school, but I didn't plan on sitting through any classes. I planned on getting into a van with my teammates and going to the College of the Desert in Palm Desert for a fencing tournament. I went inside the school and found my teammates waiting for me. We put all of our swords and armor into duffel bags the day before so all we had to do was load them into the van and go. The seven of us poured into the white HUSD van and left.

Once we had gotten to the college, we all grabbed the gear out of the back and carried it into the high ceilinged gymnasium. Mr. Powell helped get all of us registered with the USFA and made sure we were properly equipped, then helped us get warmed up with calisthenics. We found out that the one foilist we had wasn’t able to compete due to outdated armor. The rules had been updated but we didn’t have the correct equipment to comply. The rest of us were fencing in saber and were able to compete because we had the correct equipment.

We were split up randomly to fence with everyone in the tournament during the preliminary matches. I didn't win any of my matches, so I was placed against the first place fencer after the preliminaries. Feeling nervous, I stepped up to the piece. I tightened the grip on my saber, saluted my opponent, the audience, and the referee of the match, then I put my helmet on. I said I was ready and the bout began. I tried to parry the lunge that quickly came at my but I was overpowered and his blade struck my chest. “Great way to start,” I thought. I got ready and the second round began. The cycle of him hitting me went on for about five rounds. The score was six to zero. I began to worry if I would score a single point. I took off my helmet for a second to get some fresh air and then I put it back on and was ready. Something inside of me pushed me off the starting line as soon as the round started and I threw my blade out, striking my opponent's helmet before they could react. I actually scored a point. I was proud of myself for scoring even that. The bout went on until either fencer had fifteen points. The final score was fifteen to seven. I lost and was out of the tournament. I didn't feel very bad about it however, I did what I came there to do, and that was to fence. I took off my helmet and shook my opponent’s hand. Trying to catch my breath, I said “Thank you for the bout,” and walked away. I wiped the sweat from my brow and sat down. I watched the other bouts for a little bit and then me and a couple of my teammates decided to explore the campus. We walked around for a little while and found something to drink, then we headed back to the gymnasium to hear the announcements and the awards ceremony.

Looking back now, I learned a lot while at that tournament that I may never have seen. I learned how to adjust my stance to guard better, and I learned what I simply had to improve on, such as how fast I can move. Going to this tournament made me an even better fencer, even though I lost. I bonded with my team and enjoyed myself, which makes me a winner in my opinion. I didn't expect to do very well since it was my first tournament, but I got a lot of good lessons out of it.