By mid-December of 2024, Queens native Lauren Scruggs, the first Black female fencer to win an individual Olympic medal (silver in foil) and the first Black female fencer to win Olympic gold (team foil), was back in Cambridge, Mass., preparing for final exams at Harvard University. A few days earlier, she was far from campus, earning a silver medal in women’s team foil at the Busan World Cup.

“It’s been pretty calm and chill now that I’m back from the Olympics, just because I’m not competing as hard as I was last year,” said Scruggs, a senior philosophy major, who did not take time off from Harvard while training for the 2024 Olympics but does appreciate that her professors were supportive. “I’m trying to take the coolest classes that Harvard has to offer. This semester, I took a class solely on Bob Dylan … I took an entrepreneurship class because with the Olympics, I’m trying to learn more about how I can take that and use it in other aspects of my life.”

It was an intense year for Scruggs, who was training and competing in hope of making the Olympic team. Then there was her time in Paris, followed by interviews and appearances after the Games. Getting back to being a student, focused on classes and studying, felt strange, but eventually, she eased herself back into college life.

“Socially, it was a pretty big adjustment; people on campus know who you are, which is kind of weird,” said Scruggs, who appreciates but doesn’t focus on her historic accomplishments. “I wouldn’t say it changed me as a person in terms of how I see myself or my personality, but obviously, I’m super-proud of the result and seeing how it’s impacted people.”

In addition to Harvard and the Olympics, Scruggs also has a connection to the Peter Westbrook Foundation. She appreciates that elite fencers give back to the community and said the foundation gives her a sense of pride and satisfaction. “I’m not just competing for myself; I’m competing for the kids, because it really does make them more excited about the sport,” she said.

Scruggs said she’s looking forward to representing Harvard in collegiate competition this winter and is even willing to pass on a couple of World Cup events to win an Ivy League Championship.  

“I’m still fencing for myself on the strip, but having my teammates cheer for me, cheering for them, having the other team cheer against me — I thrive in that environment,” Scruggs said. “It makes the sport more fun.

This article originally appeared in the Amsterdam News