SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - Mubarik Musa has grabbed onto a dream - a uniquely American one in this case - and is running with it at the University of South Dakota.
The Coyote cross country runner left his native Ethiopia while still in elementary school, leaving his family behind in pursuit of opportunities that were never going to come his way otherwise. He has not seen his parents in person in nearly 10 years and has several siblings he has never met.
Clearly, he has made the most of his time away.
At Worthington High School in Minnesota, Musa won state titles in cross country and track, and his success in college - in sports and the classroom - has been recognized in the form of all-Summit League running and academic honors. The junior is on pace to add many more achievements along the way.
“Coming to USD has been the greatest decision I’ve ever made in my life,” Musa said. “They took a chance on me. Coach Fitz took a chance on me.”
That would be USD cross country and assistant track coach Dan Fitzsimmons, who saw the will of a champion in Musa but has since come to know there’s a lot more to him than that. What you don’t get from reading Musa’s bio but understand completely after meeting him is his prevailing sense of gratitude for, well, everything.
His parents gave him a work ethic and an ability to adapt, his uncle engineered his move to the United States, his older brother worked 16-hour work days at the packing plant to support him, and his coaches, teachers, teammates and friends somehow are making every day a little festival.
When he looks up, there are never clouds in the sky.
“It’s all extremely genuine,” Fitzsimmons said. “He’s grateful for the opportunity to run, he’s grateful for the meals we get on road trips. When he leaves the bus, he makes a point to thank the bus driver - he looks at all the positive things. When you talk to him about his life, you’d think he has the easiest life ever when in truth it’s never been easy. He’s just not a guy who dwells on hardships.”
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Musa’s parents are farmers who sell their crops to make a living. It is in name only that the American version of this lifestyle and the Ethiopian version bear any resemblance, the Argus Leader (https://argusne.ws/Zp8V2i ) reported.
“My mom and dad are typical Ethiopian farmers,” Musa said. “It’s not farming with the big machinery, it’s farming from a much different perspective. You do your work by hand. It would seem very strange here, but for my parents and a lot of Ethiopians, it’s a way of life.”
If Musa was in Ethiopia now, there’s no doubt in his mind he’d be doing the same thing. His parents were well aware of that, too, and it is why they listened when Musa’s uncle told them there could be a better way for two of their sons.
When Musa and his brother, Roba, met their uncle at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport, it was February and they had no coats or gloves, and had never experienced a cold day in their lives.
When you ask Musa about adjusting to life in a new land he will - as his coach says - skip over what would seem like incredible sacrifices for most of us. That first Minnesota winter, though, would be an exception. That was a hardship.
“I’ve always been able to make friends pretty easily, so I never had anywhere near the problems adapting to cultural aspects of living here as I did adapting to the weather,” Musa said, laughing. “My brother and I would be wearing all the hats, mittens and coats and clothes we owned by the end of November whenever we went outside. It was pretty miserable, but when we learned the proper tactics, we learned how to survive winter. “
A gym teacher who was stunned at Musa’s ability to run during a fitness test recommended him to a coach, and by the time he started high school at Park Center in the Twin Cities, he was a long-distance sensation. He won his first race by a long margin even though he ran a significant part of the course twice because nobody had explained to him that you were supposed to stay on the path.
When his brother found work in southwestern Minnesota, Musa went with him. First in Luverne and then in Worthington, Roba acted as Mubarik’s surrogate parent and provider during the younger sibling’s sophomore, junior and senior year in high school. Roba worked and Mubarik went to school and ran.
“It was tough not having a mom and dad at races to cheer for you like my teammates,” Musa said. “But I’ve always tried to use that as a motivation to work to my maximum limit. They still call before my races and wish me good luck and I’m grateful that my brother has always been there - working at Burger King and McDonald’s and the pork plant - whatever he could find.”
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Musa committed to USD without ever seeing the campus, despite the fact that it’s just two hours away. Fitzsimmons wondered about that but doesn’t wonder any more.
“He’s loyal to the core,” Fitzsimmons said. “He loves this place. It has become his and he’s become ours. I tear up talking about the transition he’s made to USD.”
The pair often talk about religion. Fitzsimmons is a Catholic and Musa is a devout Islam who has been known to lose 10 to 15 pounds during Ramadan by continuing to run as many as 70 miles a week despite fasting from before dawn until after sunset.
“The thing we always come back to is that we have the same God,” Fitzsimmons said. “They’re great and positive conversations and I’ve learned a lot from him. I think he’s learned some things from me, too. Being Islamic is not the easiest thing to be in this part of the world - you’re not going to find a mosque in Vermillion - but he’s very devout and we wouldn’t want it any other way.”
Fitzsimmons wouldn’t want his ace’s competitiveness any other way, either. Musa took 19th place in the Roy Griak Invitational on Sept. 27 and has been the Coyotes’ top cross country runner for two seasons. The Musa philosophical foundation, which has made him so popular with coaches and an inspiration to teammates, doesn’t always work in one’s favor.
“The toughest thing you have to do is try to convince him that it’s not in his best interest to give a maximum effort all the time,” Fitzsimmons said. “It’s just not the way he thinks about things. Everything every day is done in pursuit of perfection and thankfulness. The way he looks at it, if you’re not giving 100 percent, you’re not being thankful.”
Musa continues to work toward a degree in criminal justice and is on pace to graduate in the spring of 2016. He is not sure yet what he’d like to do with that degree, but is considering law school, graduate school or possibly working in law enforcement right away.
“God willing, my plan is to graduate and go back and get together with my family,” Musa said. “It has always motivated me to go back when I can finally take a break from school and from running.”
That would be quite a reunion, amped up by the long time away, as well as a long list of accomplishments he’ll be taking with him on his return trip. There will be a lot of thanking going on.
“Musa,” Fitzsimmons said, summing up his fastest runner, “is everything that is good about life.”
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Information from: Argus Leader, https://www.argusleader.com
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