Vivien Buchmann, a sophomore and a new student at KHS, has a special gift: she is an international fencer who has traveled around the world.
“I went to Hungry, Poland, Costa Rica, America, Germany, France Austria…a bunch,” said Buchmann
Buchmann moved to Kinnelon from Arizona this year, but she is originally from Germany. “When we moved from Germany to America, you need a Visa or something that gives you permission to live here and we applied, but it’s very rare that you actually ever win and so we won a green card to stay here”
According to USDiversityLottery.com, the chances of winning a green card in Germany are 1.33-2.66% depending on if you apply as an individual or a family. There are around 94,476 applicants and only around 1,253 winners. It was extremely lucky that Buchmann and her family won.
When asked why she chose this sport Buchmann said, “I started fencing because I was bored and I didn’t really want to play any ball sports. I didn’t like dance either.” She was ten when she started and has been doing it ever since. Not to mention, she is incredibly dedicated to the sport; “I practice everyday for two to three hours,” she said.
Through hard work, Buchmann has had many great accomplishments. She considers qualifying for different competitions each season to be her greatest ones. “In fencing it is very complicated because it’s really hard to qualify; it’s not just doing good and winning, it’s also qualifying for the higher level competitions. I did a top 32 at a juniors world cup in Costa Rica. Right now I’m fourth in Germany.”
