Ryan Tran

Biochemistry + Chemistry

Sixth College

Senior Nickname: Best Grandpa

2016-2020 UCSD Archery Competitive Team Member

Accolades
2020 SGA Apollonian Award
2019 WROCC Men’s Recurve Team Bronze

Ryan went searching for Sun God Archery after having already shot for a summer. As luck would have it, on the first day of classes he found one of the club’s posters on Argo Hall that advertised workshop times. He attended one of the workshops, and soon after joined the club and team.

During his time on the team, Ryan’s favorite competition was 2020 SIACC, for mixed reasons. For one, during the tournament his extension bar broke, making his stabilizers fly 3 feet in front of the shooting line during practice ends. On a brighter note though, he was able to shoot an OR he was proud of, with two ends of 30 in four ends.

As an avid archer, Ryan has the following piece of advice for those seeking to perform competitively: “the easiest way to get better scores is to have the strength to draw and hold your bow easily. So shoot a lot and/or do a lot of SPT's”.

When he graduates, Ryan will be job-hunting while deciding if he wants to pursue a Master’s degree or a Ph.D.

We wish Ryan the best of luck in his future endeavors, and congratulate him on graduating!

Eric Tian

Public Health

Revelle College

Senior Nickname: El CapiTian

USA Archery Level 2 Instructor
2019-2020 Team Captain
2018-2020 UCSD Archery Competitive Team Member

Eric’s inspiration to do archery had always been with him when he saw the portrayals of archery within movies such as Lord of The Rings. With this inspiration, he had actually bought a cheap bow at first to just try out the sport but was really engaged with the sport when he discovered SGA at UCSD and all the opportunities that came with it. Like many, he had discovered SGA through their tabling on library walk during welcome week and from there on out it was history.

Eric’s favorite competition memory was Indoor Nationals 2018/2019. At the time, he did not have his own equipment and therefore was using a club bow at the competition. However, upon arriving at the competition, the string on his bow was damaged beyond use and his only option was to use a bow from the Easton Center. However, despite the setback, he ended up competing extremely well with his circumstances and he is proud of what he was able to accomplish given his situation.

Eric’s main piece of advice that he would like to give to incoming archers is to always ask questions and put in the hours. While he says that it may be hard at times to ask for help or questions, it is critical to your success in archery combined with the dedication of hours. Overall, there is a sense of discipline with the practice of archery. Eric’s experience with this need for self-discipline from the use of SPT’s has been his way of strengthening his own self discipline with an understanding of what he needs to improve. Due to this quality that he learned from archery, he now applies his everyday life to this; whether it is academics or his own religion.

Lastly, Eric would like to thank the board for all that they have done and enjoyed working with each and every one of them. They all offered an amazing experience and he would like to thank Nathan Chiu, his fellow captain, for his dedication and everything they have accomplished. He wishes the best of luck to the oncoming board as they navigate through the next season and will definitely visit in the future.