“I really wanted to help build a community that recognized the importance of active sports. […] But most importantly, I wanted to encourage students to live healthily. A culture of incessant learning can actually be bad for learning itself.” Former student government Sports Chairperson, and 2012 Scholarship, Leadership, Citizenship award recipient, Ahmed Moughrabi ’12, shares his experiences at Ashesi.
Ahmed Moughrabi was born and raised in Ghana. He joined Ashesi from Achimota Secondary School because his older sister was a student here, and from her experience Ahmed believed the Ashesi education was valuable. On his first day at Ashesi, Ahmed explains that he did not feel anything ordinary about it.
“My initial decision to come to Ashesi had nothing to do with the University’s vision. I just wanted what I believed my sister had: a great college education. But then when I met other Ashesi students, I was impressed with how welcoming they were to me, saw how they thought and approached problems, and at once I knew Ashesi was going to change me.”
Like most new students, it took time for Ahmed to get into the swing of things at Ashesi. He still considered himself a shy individual, and preferred his comfort zone. But one of the things that immediately got him inspired to get engaged was the absence of the frequent active sporting activity that he enjoyed.
“In my first semester at Ashesi, there was only one organized football game, and two organized basketball games. I remember being so disappointed. I expected Ashesi to be excellent at everything—including sports. Of course, I did not understand then that if I wanted to see this improve, then I had to engage it myself.”
Ahmed’s first push came from Edward Opoku ‘11, who had served as a Sports Chairperson on the Ashesi Student Council in 2009. Ahmed had made contributions to the sporting activities held on campus during Edward’s tenure, and when it was time for Ashesi to choose a new Sports Chairperson, Edward encouraged him to take the role. So in 2010, Ahmed joined the Ashesi Student Council as Sports Chairperson.
“I really wanted to help build a community that recognized the importance of active sports. There is also this stigma that private schools are terrible at inter-collegiate competitions, and I wanted Ashesi to break that stigma. But most importantly, I wanted to encourage students to live healthily. A culture of incessant learning can actually be bad for learning itself.”
During his terms of office, Ahmed worked hard to encourage community-sporting events. He was celebrated, together with Edward Opoku ’11, for creating a strong sport culture in the Ashesi community. Under his leadership, Ashesi’s sports teams became more structured, and participated in more organised games and activities. During his terms as Sports Chairperson also, Ahmed with the help of then Student Council President Melvin Akaba ’11, acquired unique sports jerseys for Ashesi’s soccer and basketball teams.
Ahmed also played a strong role in supporting the Ashesi Premier League from its beginning. In 2011, when Ashesi moved to Berekuso, Ahmed also helped organize the first community soccer match between students and the Berekuso soccer team.
At Commencement 2012, Ahmed received the President’s “Scholarship, Leadership, Citizenship” award for his strong engagement with the Ashesi community and experience.
“My biggest challenges, I think, were learning to balance sports, my academics, and my social life, and bringing students together to engage in community activity. Communicating a goal is not easy, and I learnt how to do this in the most practical way possible. Because of these hard lessons though, I feel ready to take on anything.”
Ahmed has dreams of improving sports in Ghana, and though they are not immediate, he intends to engage them some day. “I have loved my stay at Ashesi,” he says. “If there was anything I could do again here, it would be to work harder and play harder. But I have no regrets. I will miss being a student at this amazing college, and the amazing people I have met inside it.”
