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Participating in competitions is a quest for individual achievement. It’s selfish, but in a way that is entirely warranted. It’s about you, and only you. In that way, you must be a little selfish as a competitor. The ability to turn that switch off when competing is a whole other thing, but being selfish in your own improvement is an important distinction from being a training partner.
Being a training partner is like being a medical student here at UNECOM. Once you start working with teammates, once you start working with other medical students, your journey of self-betterment is not only about you anymore.
As I continued to dig deeper and deeper into my sport and improve, I pushed my training partners past their own barriers, and vice versa. The more I improved, the more my teammates benefited from that improvement and got better.
When I study here, I know that it is not just about me anymore. On paper, students do have to rely on each other because of the team assignments, but it’s more than that. If I learn more, I contribute more. Maybe just once I come up with an idea that my colleagues didn’t think of. Maybe I can explain something I understand to a classmate that isn’t as strong in that particular subject. If I improve, everyone improves.
My drive to learn isn’t just about me anymore. My drive is the understanding that teammates and classmates alike will be aided or hindered by the person I present to them. And the more that I prepare, the better that person is.
I do. I won’t be able to train for 36+ hours per week, but I’m still just as in love as I have ever been. Fencing is not very popular in Maine, but there are some local clubs I have yet to check out. It would be great to be a part of that community here, if not as a training partner then as a mentor or friend. It’s also just SOOOOO FUN. What can compare to being able to hold a sword and try to poke another person whenever you want? <>