Bachelor of Recreation and Leisure Studies graduate Grace Dale (BRLS \u201925) never expected a single class presentation to change the entire trajectory of her life, but that’s what happened in her first year at Brock University.<\/p>\n
Sitting in Associate Professor Martha Barnes’ Introduction to Recreation and Leisure Studies course, Dale listened as guest speaker and Brock graduate Hilary Pollock (BRLS \u201915, MA \u201918) shared her research on recreation and community within the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF).<\/p>\n
Dale says the presentation opened her eyes to the different ways recreation professionals can make a difference and the unique nature of the military community, one which makes \u201cmany \u00a0unseen sacrifices.”<\/p>\n
“It was a moment I realized that the work recreation professionals do may not necessarily change the whole world at once, but it can significantly impact communities who need it in a positive manner,” she said.<\/p>\n
The presentation inspired Dale to enrol in the CAF reserve forces shortly after that first-year class.<\/p>\n
“What better way to know the people I want to work for one day than to experience what their lives may look like,” she said.<\/p>\n
Dale spent her university years balancing studies with reserve service, gaining first-hand insight into military life.<\/p>\n
For her required placement, she worked with Personnel Support Programs (PSP) under Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services alongside Hannah Sinclair, whom she had met during military training.<\/p>\n
“Some members came to PSP seeking out programs to help them work towards bettering fitness, others for a mental break from work and some seeking out opportunities to play on sports teams or engage their family in recreational activities,” she said.<\/p>\n
The placement revealed that recreation in military communities serves as a critical support system for mental health, relationship building and overall morale.<\/p>\n
Through her studies, Dale developed understanding of the unique challenges facing military families: frequent relocations, long deployments and the complex process of reintegrating deployed family members.<\/p>\n
“The average family doesn’t necessarily experience the same stressors that a military family would,” she said. “Often, a military family learns how to function without a member and then has to reintegrate them into the family routines, which isn’t always easy.”<\/p>\n
This understanding reshaped how Dale views her field entirely.<\/p>\n
“I view recreation not just as ‘fun,’ but as a therapeutic, stabilizing and an identity-affirming force,” she said.<\/p>\n
During her final semester, Dale transitioned from the reserve to regular forces in the CAF and is set to deploy overseas just days after crossing the stage during Brock’s 117th Convocation.<\/p>\n
She credits that single first-year experience with setting her on a path that combined academic passion with meaningful service.<\/p>\n
“I have a lot of respect for past and present members of the Canadian Armed Forces,” she said. “Maybe one day I could make the lives of individuals who were willing to give up or alter theirs for our country just a little bit better day to day.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bachelor of Recreation and Leisure Studies graduate Grace Dale (BRLS \u201925) never expected a single class presentation to change the entire trajectory of her life, but that’s what happened in her first year at Brock University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":102249,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[119,36,7484,1],"tags":[13283,1153,7488,8821],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102229"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102229"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102253,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102229\/revisions\/102253"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}