Meet Joseph

Joseph Guth: Leading up to those important rounds, I was pretty nervous, but you just have to breathe in, breathe out.

Kevin P. Chavous: Imagine spending 17 hours competing in one of the biggest fencing tournaments in the world and winning a bronze medal. That’s exactly what Joseph Guth, a student at Ohio Virtual Academy, did at the Paris Foil Competition.

But what makes his story even more incredible is that he’s also an eighth grader balancing his schoolwork with training for international events. Joseph’s journey shows how online school can make chasing big dreams possible.

Joseph Guth: Ohio Virtual Academy has definitely played a key role in my progression in fencing.

Kevin P. Chavous: How does online learning help students balance their academics and their passions? And what life lessons can virtual learning instill in students? This is What I Want to Know. Joseph, welcome to the show. Wow. Let me start by saying congratulations on your fencing accomplishments.

Winning the bronze at the Paris Foil must be exciting. I want to unpack all of that, but first of all, how did you get involved in fencing?

Joseph Guth: I started fencing when I was nine, nine and a half. My dad started training me a few months before COVID hit. And just to put it in perspective for you, Cleveland as a city isn’t known for its fencing.

Our last competitive club closed three decades ago. So, there were no clubs for me to train at, and my dad and I trained in our kitchen. We did lessons, footwork—everything in our very tight space. At one point, we realized that our kitchen wasn’t going to cut it.

My dad found a place for us to train. It was the auditorium of a synagogue. So, my first introduction to fencing was under very special circumstances. It was just my dad and me for the first six months, maybe. We did everything in there—physical training, footwork, point control, practices, running, cardio, everything happened in there.

Then, at one point, my dad decided to open our own fencing club, have our own students, and bring in our own coaches. One thing led to another, and now we have 130 students. I’m talking to you from Italy, where I’m training for an upcoming competition.

Kevin P. Chavous: That is awesome. You went through this training process. When did you start getting into competitive tournaments, and what was that like?

Joseph Guth: I started at the age of 11 to really travel and attend as many fencing camps as possible. It was a big step because once you dedicate yourself to a sport—or anything, really—you have to make a lot of sacrifices for it.

Kevin P. Chavous: Now, you won the Paris Foil. Talk a little bit about that because you ended up winning the bronze medal.

Joseph Guth: It was very grueling. To put it in perspective, this tournament is very unique. It’s special because, first of all, it’s a two-day tournament, while all other tournaments are one-day events.

It has four different rounds. In a regular tournament, there’s the preliminary round, which we call pools. Pools are just placement rounds that put you in certain rankings for the tournament. The second round is DEs—direct eliminations. As soon as you lose, you’re out; you go home. You advance as far as you can until the final.

But this tournament is called the Paris Marathon because it is basically a fencing marathon. There are three rounds of pools, and you have to pass each round. After every round of pools, a certain percentage of people gets cut off and goes home. Once you enter DEs, you have two lives.

So, you’re not eliminated immediately if you lose. If you lose, you get another chance. If you lose again, then you go home. But if you win the next one, you move on. It’s just lots of filtration, and it makes the tournament very, very long and tiresome.

Of course, they try to entertain us after each round with music and lights. But for us, we don’t need that. We just want to continue because it’s very tiring. The finalists were there for probably 17 hours. 17 hours is very accurate.

Kevin P. Chavous: That’s crazy. How many fencers started the tournament?

Joseph Guth: I believe 220 fencers began.

Kevin P. Chavous: Wow. And you made it through each round to win a bronze medal. Your nerves must’ve been going crazy as you got further and further.

Joseph Guth: I was pretty nervous, but you just have to breathe in, breathe out. You have to push it away and focus.

Kevin P. Chavous: Well, congratulations. You’re in Italy now. What are you in Italy for?

Joseph Guth: I am training for the Cadet National Championship in Italy. I have a coach here, and he invited me to represent his club in this event. I’ve been here for three weeks now, training, and my big Italian debut will be in one and a half days, so wish me luck.

It doesn’t mean much in terms of rankings or international experience, but it’s going to be a cool experience.

Kevin P. Chavous: It’s just another stepping stone toward your development.

Joseph Guth: Yes.

Kevin P. Chavous: As you know, schools give out fencing scholarships at the college level. Are you looking to continue this through college?

Joseph Guth: Yes, my goal is to fence in college. More specifically, I want to go to Columbia. Columbia University is my dream school.

Kevin P. Chavous: You were at Ohio Virtual Academy, and you said you took up fencing during COVID. You said you didn’t miss school today. How were you able to manage all that while being involved in such a high-intensity sport like fencing? That includes not just local or national travel but international travel like you’re doing now in Italy. Talk about how you’re able to balance that and how the school’s curriculum and approach help.

Joseph Guth: Ohio Virtual Academy has definitely played a key role in my progression in fencing. It enables me to travel—nationally, locally, and internationally. It allows me to set up a certain schedule for myself, which is the most important thing for me in online school. I can be very flexible with my time.

Sometimes I actually have practice during the day, in the morning, or in the evening. If I were in a traditional school, I would have to miss those practices. Or, if I were in a regular brick-and-mortar school, I would miss going to Italy or get very behind, which happened when I attended traditional school.

So, OHVA definitely helps in my fencing career. It is sometimes hard to manage the academic side of it, but whenever I’m traveling to a tournament, I do schoolwork in the car or on the plane. I think I’m doing pretty well.

Kevin P. Chavous: I was going to ask, how are you doing in school?

Joseph Guth: For the first semester, I had a 4.17 GPA. I got all A’s in my classes.

Kevin P. Chavous: Thank you. More and more students are beginning to explore online work. In fact, you’re not alone. At the schools that K12 and Stride run, we have a lot of actors, actresses, Disney kids. A lot of the kids in Disney shows are doing programs like you. We have athletes. At one of our Colorado schools, one of our students won a bronze medal in the Winter Olympics in snowboarding.

So, there are many young people who benefit from it. What advice would you give to other students?

Joseph Guth: Time management was definitely an issue for me when I started school. In a regular brick-and-mortar school, you have live teachers and classmates who keep track of how you’re doing and make sure you catch up. But in an online school, you have to take a lot of responsibility for that.

Time management was definitely an issue. I would recommend creating a schedule and having certain hours of the day for breaks and schoolwork. You have to follow through with that schedule because it’s very easy to procrastinate and fall behind. My biggest piece of advice would be to have a schedule, control your time, and try to be as productive as possible.

Kevin P. Chavous: What you’re experiencing is very powerful because it speaks to the change we’re seeing in education. Education is now becoming more custom-made or personalized for students, as opposed to every child doing things at the same time in the same way. What advice would you give to students or parents considering this option?

Joseph Guth: When we first considered switching to online school, I was very skeptical. I thought I’d miss my friends, the school curriculum wouldn’t be as good, and there wouldn’t be all the clubs I liked.

But in terms of socialization, Ohio Virtual Academy does a very good job. I especially enjoy the history events it hosts in different parts of Ohio. This summer, I took a chess club. Now, I’m in debate, I do creative writing, and during these clubs and extracurricular events, you get to actually talk to your classmates and meet them.

In terms of socialization, I don’t think there’ll be any problem. Plus, when you’re in school, you don’t have that much time to socialize even in a brick-and-mortar school. It’s mainly classes anyway. After school, you can still see your friends and do things with them. It’s not like you’re getting isolated completely.

My advice would be to definitely try it. I think you’d like it if you tried it. The curriculum in terms of academics is very strong. They have a very good academic program. At first, I thought it’d be a smooth ride, but I was very, very wrong. For me, personally, I would take online school every single time over brick-and-mortar.

Kevin P. Chavous: That’s awesome. I’m very proud of what you’ve been able to do. You really are part of the future of education, not just in terms of your academic work but also in terms of being able to live out your dreams in fencing and do your schoolwork at the same time. It offers you the opportunity to balance all of those interests and needs.

Once again, Joseph, congratulations. Thank you so much for joining. I wish you a lot of success going forward and good luck as you enjoy the fencing opportunity in Italy.

Joseph Guth: Thank you so much.

Kevin P. Chavous: Thanks for listening to What I Want to Know. Be sure to follow and subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app so you can explore other episodes and dive into our discussions on the future of education. Write a review of the show, and I also encourage you to join the conversation and let me know what you want to know using #WIWTK on social media.

For more information on Stride and online education, visit stridelearning.com. I’m your host, Kevin P. Chavous. Thank you for joining What I Want to Know.