My Carolina Experience: Ezra Baeli-Wang
July 28, 2015 | Fencing
My Carolina Experience: Ezra Baeli-Wang
By Zoya Johnson, GoHeels.com
When Ezra Baeli-Wang took a hiatus from fencing, he had no idea rekindling his love for competition on the strip would help open him up to so many possibilities in the real world. He took a break from his club team in his sophomore year of high school because he was such a dedicated and involved student, and the commute to his club team everyday was getting in the way of schoolwork and extracurricular activities like running track and his position as class president at Hillsborough High School in Hillsborough, N.J.
When Baeli-Wang chose Carolina, he did so seeking a change of scenery from the New Jersey atmosphere he'd grown up in, and he was excited about finding his niche on campus.
“Carolina was one of the few schools that offered a major as specific as Peace, War and Defense, that really suited my interests. It had a reputation for academic rigor and also boasted a student body that genuinely loved being a part of the school's community. The idea of truly loving what you're doing, and where you're doing it, has always meant a lot to me,” says Baeli-Wang.
Baeli-Wang was inspired to return to competition, so he contacted UNC fencing coach Ron Miller asking for a chance to join the team. “Coach Miller responded very graciously that it had been a strong year for recruiting, and that the team would not be holding open try-outs, but he was willing to allow me to set a time to come in and try out independently,” says the rising Tar Heel junior.
Baeli-Wang was elated with the opportunity and when he made the team he knew that he wanted to make the most of being a student-athlete. Though he had set lofty goals for his freshman year, by his sophomore year he'd achieved them, becoming a starter for the team and captain of the foil squad. In his first two years, he also realized that he could accomplish just as much if not more as a student-athlete outside of the realm of competition.
Outside of his growth as an athlete, Baeli-Wang has also immersed himself in his Peace, War and Defense studies. His major has made him more cognizant of the increasingly globalized world we live in, and the nature of many international relationships and conflicts that we hear about every day.
“Ultimately, I hope to be able to apply what I learn in my four years at Carolina in a career with the Foreign Service or in diplomacy or intelligence. My pursuit of the Chinese minor has not only increased my language abilities, but also inspired me to be where I am this summer, applying my major-specific knowledge along with my language skills in the Global Risk and Investigations division of a consulting firm in Shanghai and studying at Donghua University,” he adds.
Made possible by a scholarship through the Phillips Ambassadors Program, which stresses immersion prior to leaving to study abroad, Baeli-Wang was already gaining cultural appreciation and understanding for his trip before leaving UNC.
The leadership and teamwork experience Baeli-Wang has gained as a student-athlete at UNC have been invaluable to him not only during his studies, but as a part of a small team of consultants working in the investigations division of the firm.
Due to the fact that Baeli-Wang has found something he loves to do he feels almost compelled to learn more and constantly seek improvement in his field. Thus, he encourages incoming freshmen to find people, activities and interests that inspire them during their time at Carolina.
“It'd be a tragedy to waste some of the best years of your life trying to convince yourself to enjoy what you're doing. It's not about the money, or the marketability, or the entry salary of your field; it's about how it makes you feel. If you love something and you're passionate about doing it, the rest will follow. If you immerse yourself entirely in what you're doing, opportunities will present themselves, and seizing them will feel less like an obligation, and more like a privilege. To be able to inform yourself and gain valuable experience in an area that motivates and excites you, is one of the greatest feelings in the world, and that is what I have gained through my Carolina Experience.
“Carolina is a community composed of people who love what they do and where they're doing it. They love why they're doing it, and they love who they're doing it with, that's for certain. If you love what you do, and you're willing and eager to work hard to become the student, the athlete, the friend and the teammate that you want yourself to be, at Carolina you will find the place and the people that will help you achieve those things.”
Players Mentioned
