As foil swords clang, president senior Nathaniel Ray spreads his passion by creating a fencing club for Prosper High School. Ray and his team plan on taking this group from a non-competitive underground club to a competitive one.
“Fencing is important to me because it’s separate from other sports,” Ray said. “We have this huge football mentality. I consider fencing more of a martial arts sport, and I don’t see enough support for it, so I figured it’s cool.”
Fencing, an Olympic sport, requires fast movements and strong reflexes. Ray’s competitive spirit drew him to the sport.
“I was really competitive, and I saw all the people who could possibly be captain back then as competition,” Ray said. “That gave me a very toxic mentality toward that. But what happened was I achieved my goal of becoming president alongside one of my best friends working with me.”
As president, Ray speaks about how his sportsmanship and leadership grew, helping him become the person he is now in the club.
“I never had an opportunity where somebody put their faith in me to grow as a leader,” Ray said. “And so, just being put as captain really set me forth.”
Sponsor of the fencing club and teacher Daniel Adkins said a personal connection with Ray sparked through the sport. Adkins learned about Ray’s passion through multiple interactions.
“First and foremost, his initiative and drive behind the sport showed his passion,” Adkins said. “Especially when we first started the conversation about forming the club, it wasn’t an instantaneous yes for me, but he was so emphatic and so insistent upon having that conversation time and time again.”
Adkins said Ray’s dedication to working with his peers and the people around him revealed his readiness for leadership.
“His determination really told me that this student really wanted this,” Adkins said. “And his peers who he managed to collect along the way with his leadership also showed how much he wanted this position.”
Hank Carbajal, who also serves as a co-caption with Ray in the band, works with him in the new fencing club, as well.
“He’s a really chill guy,” Carbajal said. “He’s always having fun. He’s always enthusiastic about everything. I think the main thing is he’s always really passionate about everything he’s in. He’s always zoned in and focused on the things he’s doing.”
Carbajal said working with Ray has allowed them to develop their own version of collaboration and teamwork.
“I’m Nathaniel’s coat, which is also called his co-captain, meaning we’re at the same level (in band),” Carbajal said. “Working with him is easy and difficult. It’s in the middle because we have different ideas sometimes. But most of the time we have the same general idea, and we are able to work.”
