I am a student-athlete at Columbia University. When I am not studying or fencing, I like to enrich my community through sports-based youth development specifically using fencing. I have worked with an organization called the Peter Westbrook Foundation for over 10 years, transitioning from a participant to a coach to a mentor in the program. This organization is run by 8x Olympian Peter Westbrook, and fosters community and places importance on educational excellence for underprivileged youth. They offer tutoring services, sponsor athletes to compete nationally and internationally, and hold classes that teach young athletes how to fence. Being in such an amazing program has taught me the power and importance of sports-based youth development.
“I value the work that these organizations do so much because of the immense impact they have had on my life being a part of one growing up.”
I found Up2Us Sports through my mother who is a full-year VISTA in the program. She works with an organization called PISTE - founded by Olympic fencer Nzingha Prescod - that teaches fencing to underprivileged youth in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn. I also work with this program as a coach in their Fencing in the Park series. Seeing her work in the program and how highly she spoke of her VISTA Cohort Leader inspired me to take on a similar role. I have worked with similar sports-based youth development programs all my life, so transitioning to a role at Up2Us Sports made perfect sense. I value the work that these organizations do so much because of the immense impact they have had on my life being a part of one growing up. I truly understand the importance of sports for youth and wanted to give back to those doing this important work in a new way. Up2Us Sports has a unique position where I can impact the work of coaches rather than working directly with children. This work then trickles down to even more youth who can receive better coaching as a result of the work we do at Up2Us Sports. It also allows the coaches to feel supported.
“Being in the Cohort Leader role has been an amazing experience. I have developed skills in project management, communication, team-building, professional development and more. ”
Being in the Cohort Leader role has been an amazing experience. I have developed skills in project management, communication, team-building, professional development and more. Although I am majoring in Mechanical Engineering, I decided to take a non-technical role to develop these soft skills and give back to communities around the country.
