6th batch alumnus Hansika Wijayagunasekara from Sri Lanka is endorsing sport as a useful mechanism for opportunity and change in society through her work at the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka.
The NOC SL launched its full-scale Olympic Values Education Program Debator to educate school children of Olympic Values where she worked with 20 schools around Sri Lanka as a coordinator.
Olympic values promote the values of joy of effort, fair play, respect for other, pursuit of excellence, and balance between body, will, and mind, essentially blending sport with life.
She previously researched the program’s pilot project in 2017 for her thesis entitled “Impact of Olympic Value Education Program on Sri Lankan Youth’s Sport Involvement and Pro-Social Behavior” during her studies at the Dream Together Master Program.
Other than researching about the pilot program, she was motivated that sport could bring about an “immense change to society if it is applied wisely” during her time in Korea.
“SNU DTM literally helped me to see the sports world through a lens of possibilities. All the amazing lectures and sports stories from all around the world influenced me to look at the sports arena in Sri Lanka differently.”
Wijayagunasekara hopes that the “mind-sets of athletes, parents, government, national sport bodies, and citizens towards sport could be different and positive” in Sri Lanka, for “most think sport could lead nowhere, but that is wrong. Sport can lead you to a higher level, and it is capable of opening diverse avenues and opportunities.”
