Courtesy of Vera Fung
Fung will be joining the Brown fencing team this school year.As a student here, Class of ‘25 alumna Vera Fung had the luxury of waking up at 8 a.m. to go to school. Now, as a Division I fencer at Brown University, Fung wakes up at 6:30 a.m., ready for a full day of school and training.
Fung, a member of the women’s foil fencing team at Brown, recently began her first semester as a student athlete while studying for an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering. Her twin sister Emma is also a freshman fencer on Wellesley College’s Division III fencing team.
Though fencing is currently in the off-season, the team’s training regimens are still more vigorous compared to Fung’s competitive training at her club, Silicon Valley Fencing Center. In addition to all her practices, Fung has one-hour weight lifting sessions twice a week and does a plethora of workouts weekly.
Said Fung, “It’s not the same thing every day — when the training facility was closed, instead of fencing practice, we went on a 30-minute run outside. There is less fencing, but the training is more physically intense.”
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Fung wakes up at 6:30 to prepare for morning practice from 7 to 8:30, which usually consists of footwork, stretching, cardio and fencing. After practice, Fung supports her recovery by stretching to loosen her muscles. On her way to class she loves stopping by the athletic center to grab a protein snack from a vending machine reserved for varsity athletes.
From 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., she attends classes in multivariable calculus and computer science, as well as an engineering conference in the afternoon. Once she’s back in her dorm, she completes her homework, studies and rests for another busy day to come.
On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Fung has a shorter schedule. With no fencing practice in the morning, Fung wakes up at 9 a.m. and studies until her classes for the day: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology and Introduction to Engineering. When her classes are over at 3 p.m., Fung spends the rest of the day catching up on work and studying.
Once the fencing season starts on Oct. 15, the team’s training schedule will increase in intensity, with four fencing practices and two lifting sessions every week in addition to private lessons, adding even more items to Fung’s busy week.
As she transitions from high school to college, Fung said she’s faced challenges while adjusting to the new schedule and increased workload in both fencing and academics. In particular, she finds it much harder to get more than six hours of sleep every day or spend as much time on her phone as she previously would.
But despite these challenges, Fung said she loves the experience of a new campus and the school culture at Brown.
“Everyone here is so nice and welcoming.” Fung said. “Everyone has such diverse interests, and it’s so interesting talking to different people and taking in new perspectives.”
