Year: 2014
Hometown: Medford, Mass.
Major: Politics
Minor: Journalism & Italian
Her Campus: Why did you choose Brandeis?
Julian Cardillo: Well, my brother went here, and he is a lot older than me. I’ve always sort of looked up to him, so it was sort of nice to be able to follow in his footsteps, but I also knew this school was really top-class. I knew I wanted a school with a really good journalism program, and so Brandeis really fit the bill. The other component was fencing. I wanted a serious fencing program built in with good academics. Coach Shipman has been here for over thirty years now, and we’re very competitive and we have really good treatment compared to a lot of other team in the country.
HC: What are you involved in on campus?
JC: I’m captain of the fencing team, and I sporadically contribute to WBRS and the Justice.
HC: The Brandeis Men’s Fencing Team did extremely well at Duke this past weekend. To what do you attribute this wild success?
JC: First of all it was amazing, fencing Duke in general. It’s something we circle every year, and we were very, very motivated. Every year I’ve been here, except for my freshman year, we’ve lost to Duke by one, and you know we’ve come so close every time, and we’ve always tried different ways to re-motivate ourselves, and get back at it, and this year I think we just struck it right, and it was fantastic. We had so much energy and it was the right amount of intensity. We were all just fencing incredibly well, probably the best any of us could fence, and it came together in the perfect way, and we got our win.
HC: Do you have a favorite Brandeis fencing memory?
JC: This weekend is going to be very close to the top, but before that it would be the qualifiers for NCAAs last year. The way it works is you have three different pools and the final pool is the last set of qualification, everyone who’s not in that pool is eliminated. So I was in that pool, and at that point I had fenced close to twenty-three matches. You need six wins to ensure that you’re going to NCAAs, and I was at five. I was really tired and cramping up, and just totally out of energy, and of course my last match is against the toughest guy in the tournament, he goes to Harvard. I remember being down 4-0, and the matches are to five. My entire team is behind me, and they just whoop it up, and get really loud, and just somehow I just manage to start scoring these points and before I knew it I had it tied at 4-4. Then I make a really nice attack, and just hit him, and it was the best feeling, because I just collapsed after that, and I was like “I’m done, I’m going to NCAAs”. I don’t think I could have done it, to this day, without the team behind me.
HC: Do you have any pre-meet rituals?
JC: Yeah, a few. When I wake up in the morning I’ll take a really hot shower and I’ll just sort of meditate and focus on what I need to do. I’m the only one on the team who puts my knickers on before we get on the bus, so I’ll put those on and my fencing shoes, and my warm-ups over that, just because it gets my body used to wearing the uniform and gets me into the competitive sense. I’ll say a prayer on the bus, just to hope for a good day, I just hope to do the best I can, that’s usually all I ever ask for. Then I’ll listen to some music, and after we warm-up, we do our cheer.
HC: How are you feeling about graduating this year?
JC: It’s exciting, because I’m starting a new chapter in my life. I have a very good idea of what I want to do, but I know pretty well that plans don’t always work out the way you want them to. I want to find a job as a reporter, and I’d like to stay in the area, but if that’s not possible, then okay. I’m just trying to enjoy my last few months at Brandeis. I’ve just really been savoring the time with my friends and my team, my classes, just the campus lifestyle in general. This school has been very good to me, and I’ve really enjoyed my experience.
HC: Do you have anyone special who you’re going to spend Friday, Valentine’s Day, with?
JC: My suitemate, Ethan, and I might go out to celebrate single guys being alone on Valentine’s Day. There’s another friend that I’d like to maybe spend Valentine’s Day with, but if it doesn’t happen, whatever
HC: What do you think of the “holiday” of Valentine’s Day?
JC: I think it’s cute. I think it’s interesting that people put so much into it. It’s sort of like Father’s Day or Mother’s Day, where yo udon’t really need a day to commemorate your mom or dad, you should love them and care for them every day of your life. I think, in general, people should be caring and loving of each other every day. But I think it’s nice that you designate a day to just find someone and express how much you care about them and that you don’t take them for granted.
Favorite Mucisian? Coldplay, Foster the People, and Portugal. The Man
Favorite Movie? Casino Royale or Thunderball
Celebrity crush? Jennifer Lawrence
Sherman or Usdan? Usdan, but I’m happy to say I don’t have a meal plan.
Favorite spot on campus? My room or common room, or the Green Room in the library