It was not love at first sight for Jaelyn Liu and fencing, but she has grown to love and achieve success on a national level in the sport. The seventh-grader began fencing at age 7 to grow her confidence through the combat sport.

The potential of cuts and bruises, however, postponed her interest, and she did not learn to love the sport until she joined the club Fencing Institute of Texas.

“My point of view changed because I found out it’s actually really fun, and we always wear protection so it’s pretty rare to get hurt,” Liu said.

She now enjoys fencing, particularly getting to learn and experiment with new tactics with her teammates. In addition to enjoyment, Liu said she also found a new sense of self- confidence through fencing.

“It has helped a lot with my confidence,” Liu said. “I am able to talk a lot more, and I made a lot more friends because my club is pretty big.”

This year, which she considers to be her climactic year, she won several national medals, including a first place summer national medal. She even had the chance to fence against three-time Olympic gold medalist Lee Kiefer while participating in the North America Cup, a national fencing tournament that Kiefer attended.

“I think that might be my greatest achievement if I ever get to fence her,” Liu said before the event.

Her achievement has not come without sacrifice, however. She has had to devote both time and effort, training six days each week, and also has to balance her academics and athletics. Going between training and school each day, Liu has worked to manage her time and prioritize school.

“Hockaday is my education… and it is my first priority,” Liu said. “The most challenging part is trying to level out both my fencing and my education.”

While fencing comes with challenges, she has big plans for the future. Liu said she is looking forward to 2028 to potentially compete at the Olympic Games, and also hopes to use fencing as a means to attend a high academic level college.

“I hope to get into a good school because of my fencing,” Liu said, “and to use this sport as one of my advantages in life.”