Xianglong Wang

Cognitive Science (WIth specialization in Machine Learning and Neural Computation)

Elanor Roosevelt College

Senior Nickname: “Secret Bow Dealer”

2021-2022 UCSD Archery Competitive Team Member

Wang is someone driven by the urge to compete. To be able to test his skill and determination against his peers was something he actively sought after. He originally sated his drive to compete through cycling, where he competed for 7 years until it became too stressful for a college student to keep up. Both the physical and mental tax of training and staying motivated became too stressful for Wang to handle. The combination of this and COVID hitting China and stopping the races he could compete in forced Wang to find a new passion. During quarantine, Wang and his friends were hanging out at an Olympic training center, where they had archery classes. On a whim, he and his friends took a class, and Wang fell in love. The coach at the training center saw him and convinced him to keep training.

Once he returned to UCSD, he found SGA, and immediately knew this was where he wanted to be. Archery is a much more “relaxing” sport, not requiring much physical exertion (compared to a sport like cycling). Wang also appreciated the welcoming community the club offered, being able to rely on his friends and peers when he was feeling down or demotivated. Most importantly, however, the club competed. Wang was able to satiate his urge to compete through archery and SGA.

Wang states that his most memorable moment in archery was just getting his own gear. They had equipment for use at the center, but, to him, nothing compares to the feeling of being able to customize your own setup. He loved being able to customize every aspect of his bow, and he hopes that this is something that will encourage more archers to fall in love with the sport just as he did.

After college, Wang plans on attending Johns Hopkins University to study security informatics, network security, and cryptography. He hopes that he will be able to continue his archery career at JHU. We would like to wish him the best of luck in his athletic, academic, and professional career going forward, and hope that SGA has been a stepping stone for whatever path he chooses in his life.