Author: Alex Nieves
Kicking off the Leadership Speaker Series, the Occidental College Athletics Department and the Occidental Sports Business and Law Network (OSBLN) welcomed back alumnus and renowned mental conditioning expert Trevor Moawad ’95.
Moawad, an All-SCIAC soccer and basketball player during his time with the Tigers, has risen to acclaim as one the innovators and leaders in the field of mental conditioning since his time in Eagle Rock. He has worked closely with more than 20 collegiate and professional sports organizations, including the powerhouse University of Alabama football program in the Nick Saban era.
“[Mowad’s] world is like the Disney World of athletics,” Director of Athletics Jaime Hoffman said. “To bring him back to his beginnings, a place that he’s passionate about, is special for us.”
Addressing a group of nearly 350 students in Rush Gymnasium, Moawad shared his experiences attending Occidental as a transfer student, battling leukemia and working his way up through the sports world. The speech, which tied in a video and other motivational tools that Moawad uses to prepare Alabama football players, focused on the importance of a positive mindset and avoiding complacency.
“Wherever you are at right now, if things are going really good for you, the only way they are going to continue is by the work you do,” Moawad said. “In the business world, the sports world, the professional world, you are defined by the present, not the past.”
After his presentation, Moawad stayed in Rush for about an hour, asking students about their majors, talking to former coaches from his playing days and chatting about memorable moments from his college years. Throughout these conversations, it was abundantly clear that Moawad held a lot of excitement in returning to his alma mater and making an impact on students that stood in his place from 18 years ago.
“It’s so difficult to get into [Occidental], and it felt like it was even more difficult to graduate,” Moawad said. “So the opportunity to come back is really a privilege. “I want to share with people my experience and do anything I can do to make their experience a little bit better.”
Check back at occidentalweekly.com and/or oxyathletics.com for more info about the speaker series and upcoming dates.
This article has been archived, for more requests please contact us via the support system.
