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<\/a>The group puts on social events like laser tag outings and educational events, including topics such as female sex ed from an Islamic perspective. Budge says that these events are made to give Muslims and others at Camosun a place where they don\u2019t have to worry about doing anything that they may be uncomfortable with.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have some restrictions that make it sometimes more difficult to do events with the greater community,\u201d says Budge. \u201cSo it gives you\u00a0a place where you don\u2019t have to worry about rubbing against something that you\u2019re not comfortable with.\u201d<\/p>\n
Second-year Arts and Science Studies student Mahinur Efe is an MSA member; she first learned about the club through a laser-tag event some of her friends were going to.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn my first year here we had a laser-tag event with the members of the Camosun MSA,\u201d says Efe. \u201cI got to know some people that I am now really close friends with.\u201d<\/p>\n
Budge hopes the MSA can be a space for Muslims to grow during their college experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re faced with a lot more people, a lot more social structures, a lot more ideas,\u201d says Budge. \u201cThey are also looking at new ways of thinking, new ways of understanding, and things like that. So a lot of people end up having to look back in on themselves and say, \u2018What do I actually believe?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Efe says that the MSA has given them a feeling of empowerment and made their college life way better.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I didn\u2019t know these people, if I didn\u2019t have this kind of support around me, my college life would be harder,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
The MSA Facebook group has 33 members and Budge says there are more on the emailing list. Still, often only a handful of people show up at an event.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the problem is the divide between the campuses,\u201d says Budge. \u201cWe cannot really ask someone from Interurban to come all the way here [Lansdowne] just for something and vice versa. A lot of people from Lansdowne are not going to go to Interurban.\u201d<\/p>\n
Budge is hopeful that the group will grow and that it will continue when she leaves.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m leaving next year, \u201csays Budge. \u201cI want other people see the benefit of it, and try to grow it more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Efe says that she has seen people from various backgrounds\u2014including Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, and Canada\u2014become involved in the club.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s such a diverse group,\u201d she says. \u201cWe all come together because we are Muslim and we just want to do things, socialize, connect together, and send a positive message; that\u2019s my favorite part of the MSA.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Camosun Muslim Students Association (MSA) club is a place for Muslims and people interested in Islam to enjoy, grow, and feel comfortable. Second-year Camosun University Transfer student Lindsay Budge is the MSA president; she says the club was also formed because a lot of Muslims on campus simply wanted a space to do something […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,183],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus","category-march-1-2017"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t