{"id":78868,"date":"2022-06-15T09:01:57","date_gmt":"2022-06-15T13:01:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=78868"},"modified":"2022-06-15T18:08:51","modified_gmt":"2022-06-15T22:08:51","slug":"sport-management-grad-finds-his-home-at-brock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2022\/06\/sport-management-grad-finds-his-home-at-brock\/","title":{"rendered":"Sport Management grad finds his home at Brock"},"content":{"rendered":"

After years of feeling like he didn\u2019t belong, Moe Hussein found a welcoming and inclusive community at Brock University.<\/p>\n

The Sport Management major came to Brock as a mature student in 2020 after attending three other post-secondary institutions over the course of 15 years. This week, along with more than 3,500 other graduating students, Hussein is celebrating the long-awaited accomplishment of earning a Brock degree.<\/p>\n

Hussein\u2019s family immigrated to Canada in 2001 from the United Arab Emirates to pursue a better education for him and his three siblings.<\/p>\n

Long before Hussein learned about Brock, his sights were set on a different Ontario university that his parents, after hearing great things, encouraged him to attend, along with his siblings.<\/p>\n

After graduating from high school in 2005, Hussein did as his parents wished and enrolled, but his experience at the university did not match its reputation.<\/p>\n

\"A

Moe Hussein graduated from Brock University Wednesday, June 15 with a Bachelor of Sport Management degree. Before attending Brock, Hussein spent 15 years pursuing other education pathways and working in what he describes as unfulfilling roles.<\/p><\/div>\n

“I was faced with tremendous difficulty in the form of racist attacks from fellow students on campus and racist rhetoric from some professors,\u201d he said. “Students would yell at me and throw stuff at me. I complained several times, but nothing happened. I left a year prior to graduation. It wasn\u2019t the place for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hussein then moved to Toronto to pursue his education at a second university. Although he enjoyed his experience there, he found it too expensive to live in the big city.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing diabetic, I couldn\u2019t afford to continue my studies because I was unable to afford rent, food and my medication on top of tuition,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Feeling defeated, he moved back in with his parents a year later and attended a local college to pursue a one-year business diploma.<\/p>\n

After graduating, he worked in a variety of industries, including car sales, finance and retail, but found the jobs unrewarding and stressful. Encountering what he called \u201cabusive management and customers,\u201d he developed symptoms of anxiety and depression.<\/p>\n

To help relieve some stress and feel a sense of accomplishment outside of work, Hussein started a not-for-profit soccer club.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to give minorities and people like me the opportunity to develop their skills and become leaders,\u201d he said. \u201cI also wanted to help individuals with mental health issues use sport as a healthy way to express themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hussein managed the club for seven years, finding great joy in everything from playing and coaching to handling the finances and planning the marketing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt made me realize I wanted to do this as a career, rather than a volunteer role,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He researched degree programs and discovered Brock\u2019s Bachelor of Sport Management program.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been the best decision I have ever made,\u201d he said. \u201cI felt welcome at Brock and proud to share my culture and heritage. Students were kind and friendly and made me feel comfortable. Professors wanted me to succeed and worked with me to ensure I was on the right track.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite most of his studies taking place during the height of the pandemic, Hussein\u2019s time at Brock helped him overcome much of his social anxiety.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like myself for the first time in years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Hussein said he has found a second home at Brock and is planning to stay with his Brock family for a little while longer. He was recently accepted into the Master of Arts in Sport Management program and will be working towards completing the degree part time while he works and volunteers in the sport industry.<\/p>\n

He has big goals for the next few years, but Hussein is confident he can achieve them with continued support and encouragement from the Brock community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to become a great difference maker in the sport industry,\u201d he said. \u201cI want to make sure that no one in the sport industry suffers injustice due to their race, gender or sexual orientation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After years of feeling like he didn\u2019t belong, Moe Hussein found a welcoming and inclusive community at Brock University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":78870,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[119,36,1,4],"tags":[156,2508,2294,7488,607,8581,57,1759],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78868"}],"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\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78868"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78868\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78871,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78868\/revisions\/78871"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}