How I Chose to Be an Exchange Student in Istanbul

The Study Abroad Office

'So are you ready for Bogazici University? ' My study abroad mentor asked.

'Yes, I think I am' And I was being honest. I had done all the paperwork, sent in my applications, found out how to apply for a student visa and even booked my plane tickets. I had started to learn Turkish phrases and little sticky notes littered my desk with useful statements and questions in Turkish. I was ready.

But how did I get to that point? It started at least 6 months prior when I met this girl who lived in my apartment building.

Making New Friends

She was from a country that I couldn't locate on a map. Turkey. I knew it was somewhere out east, but I had no idea where. I had had a friend from there once, a long time before. Turkey. I didn't even have a picture of what it should be like in my head.

We became friends, that girl from my apartment building and I. About a month later, she ended up moving into my suite of rooms with my roommates and I and we had an amazing fall semester being "spontaneous" together. We went out for cheesecake late at night, went shopping for Christmas decorations at Ikea and set up our first mini Christmas tree in our apartment near the windows. The lights shone bright and welcomed us home every evening during the cold month of December. I started learning a few simple Turkish words and her English improved greatly as the weeks progressed.

By the time Christmas came around, we were almost as close as sisters. I knew that she would be returning to Turkey that next summer, and I started to wonder - what if I went too? I was already looking at study abroad programs, mainly for France. I mean, who wouldn't want to live in Paris for a semester? But all of a sudden, Turkey started to sound intriguing. What would it be like to live in a country that I knew nothing about? Plus, I would get to meet my new best friend's family, learn more about the culture that she came from and I would get to spend more time with her. Since we had become really close friends, I was not looking forward to her living thousands of miles away.

Finding an Exchange Program

So, I asked her about it one day while she was spending the holidays with my family. And it didn't seem like a crazy idea to her! We started looking up programs and found the exchange partnership between our university and Bogazici University. 'It's a really great university, you should study there. And Istanbul is beautiful' she said. And she was right.

The following September I found myself on a plane, for the first time traveling thousands of miles to a new country. I didn't know what to expect, but I knew that she would be by my side to help me navigate a new country and culture. And she was! My first weekend in Istanbul, she showed me around the local supermarkets and bought me my first transportation card. I had dürüm for the first time at a little restaurant decorated with little lamb statues, and we traveled to the beach before the university semester started. I so appreciated her friendship and how she opened up a new world for me to explore.

Life-Changing Adventure

My semester in Istanbul as an exchange student forever changed my life. I moved back to Istanbul soon after finishing my exchange program and I studied the language more intensely and found a job teaching at an international school. I still live near Bogazici University, and some of the underclassmen that I befriended that first semester are now graduating in a few weeks. It's crazy to look back and see how those small decisions that I made at university and all the friends that I made, have forever changed the course of my life.

Do It!

Studying abroad is always a good idea. Choose a place where you have a personal connection and really invest in getting to know the culture. And while you are at your home university, get to know exchange/erasmus students who are studying there! These friendships will open up doors for you to see new places as never before, as it did for me.

Good luck on your study abroad adventures!

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