The FISU Dual Career webinar took place on Friday, 15 October 2021 reuniting some FISU Student Ambassadors who shared their experiences and advice as student-athletes.
Among FISU Student Ambassadors were professional athletes, who were also students at the same time and shared their stories with others to help them balance these two activities.
Dr. Verena Burk, FISU Senior Executive Committee Member and Chair of the FISU Education Committee presented initiatives that have been launched by FISU the past years regarding this topic. The dual career is part of the FISU Global Strategy 2027 as a focus area, promoted on the FISU website, and is included as a topic at various FISU educational events (FISU World Conference and FISU World Forum). Also discussed during conferences at FISU events, the dual career has its own working group within the FISU Education Committee. FISU has also submitted an application under the Erasmus+ Programme along with FISU’s partners to find out what role university sport plays in the structure, programmes and services in the field of dual career.
Moderated by Matthew Barnard from FISU Oceania, the dual career webinar counted on speakers’ experiences to motivate participants.
“Persistency is the key for everything. Do not give up on anything because of the time it takes. Time will pass anyways, just focus on what you want and be persistent at it,” says Chathuri Hashani, student in finance at the University of Kelaniya (SRI) and national basketball player. She has been best player at the 52nd Senior Nationals Women Basketball Tournament in 2020, champion at 52nd Senior Nationals Women Basketball Tournament in 2020 and represented Sri Lanka at the 3rd FIBA Asia Under 16 Championship for women in 2013 to name a few of her sports achievements.
Karim Harik, studying Business Management at the Lebanese American University (LIB) and champion in martial arts and running (national and international championships, marathons) shared his experience: “Manage your time in studies and sports, if you plan and be well organized you can do both. It’s important to have a vision, passion and drive but also to persevere and fight for your dreams and what you love”
The webinar ended with an exercise session, a trivia quiz and games, followed by a breakout room discussions to enable participants to interact with each other.
