What are some of your favorite memories from your time at the University of Iowa?
As an avid reader and writer, I really miss being in a literary city like Iowa City. I had the chance to participate in the Iowa Young Writer’s Studio the summer of 2009 before my first year at Iowa, and from then until I graduated, I felt very lucky to be able to take advantage of the readings, creative writing and literature courses, and independent bookstores in Iowa City. In particular, I really enjoyed engaging with the International Writing Program residents, like Bina Shah and H. M. Naqvi.
And of course, if it wasn’t for the Turkish courses I took at the University of Iowa and the exchange at Boğaziçi University that I participated in during the Fall 2012 semester, my life would look very different today. Not only did these experiences at Iowa pave the way for me to do a Fulbright research grant in Turkey, the small Turkish classes gave me the opportunity to become very close with my Turkish teachers, who opened their homes to me during both my first study abroad in Turkey in 2012 and my Fulbright year in 2015-16.
In what ways did you challenge yourself (conventionally or otherwise) in your undergraduate studies and beyond?
The mentorship and instruction of my professors at the University of Iowa gave me the confidence to always be ambitious and stretch myself to try new opportunities. In particular, in May 2011, I remember seeing a call by Time magazine for reflections from individuals who had been pre-teens on 9/11. On a whim, I decided to send my reflection along, not really expecting anything to come of it. Not only was it accepted for publication, the brief piece helped me to interview with The Stanley Foundation for an internship, which I was fortunate to receive. And without that internship at the Foundation and the fantastic mentorship I found there, I gained the skills, networks, and confidence I needed to find my way to Washington, D.C.
Tell us about something fun or unusual you were involved in at Iowa!
While at Iowa, I had the privilege of being part of the Iowa Andhi Bollywood fusion dance team. As a lifelong dancer, it was fantastic to challenge myself to learn new styles while being able to build close friendships with my teammates.
What’s something you wish you had known/done as an undergraduate student?
I wish I’d had a better understanding of how amorphous the concept of “success” really is. When I began my undergraduate studies, I remember thinking that I would feel I had “made it” if I received a Fulbright grant. After applying and failing once (in 2012), I applied for a Fulbright research grant in Turkey in 2014, and I was fortunate to be selected as a Fulbright Research Fellow for 2015-16. It was the most transformative year of my life…and then when it was over, I didn’t feel immediately fulfilled or at peace. Instead, my eyes were set on the next big thing (the next job, the next “achievement,” etc.).
It goes without saying that the pressure to “succeed” is ever present in today’s society. Coming to understand that the bar for success is constantly shifting has helped me to better prioritize the different parts of my life, whether my academics, my work, or my family. Yes, success may mean a Fulbright grant, but it can also mean having healthy relationships and friendships, or pursuing your passion (whether as a vocation or as a hobby). It’s all about framing, and I think the sooner that students can grasp that, the easier it will be to manage the pressures that come with wanting to be “successful.”
Describe your Fulbright experience in Turkey, and what you’re doing with the Turkish Heritage Organization now.
I actually left the Turkish Heritage Organization in August 2018 to pursue a Master’s in Conflict Analysis and Resolution at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (S-CAR) at George Mason University, where I am also the Storyteller/Newsletter Editor. In my graduate studies and my day job, I’m exploring the intersection between narrative, storytelling, and conflict resolution. In my graduate studies specifically, I am focusing on the Turkish-Kurdish conflict.
My Fulbright experience in 2015-16 equipped me with skills I use everyday in my graduate studies. It gave me the opportunity to improve my Turkish to a professional and academic level of comprehension. While the language-learning journey never truly ends, Fulbright helped me get over the edge to a place where I have achieved the kind of fluency that helps me conduct research (from desk studies to interviews) in Turkish.
My Fulbright grant also gave me very useful lessons in taking initiative and learning how to conduct interview-based research. The great thing about my Fulbright experience was that I found myself with ample free time to shape the grant as I saw fit—from conducting interviews on my research subject (Turkish-Sub-Saharan African relations) to offering an academic writing workshop at Ankara University, where I was based. This kind of freedom also meant needing to independently develop the necessary discipline and initiative to see my projects through without direct oversight—a skill I found useful when I worked at the Turkish Heritage Organization after my Fulbright grant. The young organization had a small team with big dreams, and that meant often having to chart courses that hadn’t been laid out by others before me.
Reflecting on your time at Iowa and life after graduation, how did the Presidential Scholarship impact your life as a student at Iowa, and how has it impacted your life beyond Iowa?
The Presidential Scholarship gave me a community that helped me build confidence and learn from peers with a wide range of interests and expertise. That sense of community was especially valuable at a big school like Iowa, where it can sometimes feel like you can get lost in the crush of students and academics. The inquisitive nature of the members of community also helped me cultivate my own inquisitiveness and helped me recognize the value in going beyond the surface level of coursework. The Presidential Scholarship helped me focus my efforts on building a career path that matches my interests and strengths. While it is always a work in progress, I feel that the Presidential Scholarship gave me the intellectual foundation upon which to build a vibrant portfolio of work and scholarship, and I am still reaping the benefits of that experience nearly ten years after I first arrived at Iowa.
Looking back, did you expect to be where you are now? If not, reflect on how you navigate “the unexpected” in your life.
One thing that has constantly mystified me about life after undergrad, and especially life in D.C., is how ordinary the extraordinary can become. At a certain point, you can forget how cool it is to be visiting an office on Capitol Hill or meeting with an expert whose research you cited in your undergraduate thesis.
For this reason, I find it refreshing to take time to reflect on my years at Iowa. I firmly believe that Iowa equipped me with the skills and experiences I needed to come to D.C., from the Presidential Scholarship to the Iowa Policy Research Organization course I took as a Political Science student to the Turkish classes I was able to take while in undergrad. That being said, when I was in undergrad, it was very difficult to visualize whether I would be able to achieve the goals I had set for myself. I’m still on my way to achieving them, of course—again, the bar of “success” is ever shifting.
I think the “unexpected” is best navigated by understanding that the path to one’s goals is rarely ever linear. When I arrived at the University of Iowa, I had hoped to major in English literature, which didn’t materialize. Nearly a decade after my matriculation, I’ve just finished conducting research on how the novel The Hate U Give helps readers build empathy as part of one of my graduate courses at S-CAR. It is so strange—and so pleasing—to be able to pursue a dream in grad school that I didn’t allow myself to pursue in undergrad.
As cliché as it sounds, every experience will teach you something—or rather, can teach you something, if you let it. That doesn’t mean you have to like every experience you come across, or persist in an experience that isn’t for you. But I believe that if you follow the doors that open to you, even if they aren’t the ones you initially expected, you may find something surprising that sets you on a path you never dared to expect.