Lauren Scruggs says her family is still feeling emotional after she made Olympic history in Paris.
After Scruggs, 21, took home the silver medal in fencing at the Summer Olympics on July 28, making her the first Black American woman to medal in the event, the New York City native tells PEOPLE her family is “super, super happy for me.”
“I think my family’s a mess, they’re just so excited,” Scruggs tells PEOPLE at the Team USA House in Paris.
“My mom cries every five seconds; my grandma too,” she adds.
The Harvard incoming senior says her Olympic win “means a lot” to her family and that she “really felt the love out there” while competing in Paris.
Scruggs first discovered fencing through her older brother Nolen, who she says is “just in shock” over her historic win. “He was telling me, ‘I’ve been praying for you all week’ and things like that. He’s that type of guy, so I think he’s just super proud,” she shares.
Being the first Black American woman to medal in fencing is still a “shock” to Scruggs as well.
“I look at the medal for five minutes and I’m just like, ‘Oh my God,'” she says. “Every time I really take a moment and look at it, I’m just in total shock.”
Scruggs will begin her final year at Harvard, where she’s studying for a Bachelor’s degree in philosophy, in the fall. There, she’ll return to classmates and professors who have been “blowing up” her phone with messages of congratulations since she medaled.
“They’re just like, just gassing me up right now,” she says of her Harvard peers. “Obviously my very close friends, they were all watching from pretty early on in the morning and one of my friends got their whole family to watch on the TV, so that was really cool.”
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Scruggs says she’s even received “emails from professors” in the two days since the event.
When she’s not making Olympic history, Scruggs says she likes to shop – she’s already made a “big-girl purchase at Gucci” while in Paris – and is a big fan of anime.
“Right now I’m watching One Piece, but I really like Cowboy Bebop and Naruto, they’re probably my favorite.”
Scruggs will compete for a medal again at the Olympics on Aug. 1 in the women’s team foil event.
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