To celebrate the 20th year of our university, we have prepared a set of four questions to ask faculty and administrative personnel who have been with us since the beginning, and to our first students. They all tell "the story of 20 years" from their own perspectives.
Going in alphabetical order, this week's interviewee for "The Story of 20 Years" is Melih Özsöz.
Melih Özsöz has been a member of the Sabancı University family for 21 years. He is one of the first 251 undergraduate students of 1999, when the university opened its doors. Melih Özsöz graduated from the Social and Political Sciences (SPS) Program of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) in 2004 and had his Master's Degree in European Studies at Boğaziçi University. He is currently working at Limak Holding as a manager.
Melih Özsöz’s answers to our four questions are below .
What was your initial memory / impression of when you met Sabancı University for the first time?
M.Ö: After the university selection exam, we visited the campus for the first time on a Friday during the selection period. It took us a long time to get to Istanbul and to the campus, we arrived at the campus on Friday afternoon and everyone had left. Mrs. Zerrin Koyunsağan was leaving the campus while we were talking to the security guards of the Rectorate building. She saw us. She talked to the security guards and told us that the Founding Rector Mr. Terzioğlu (God rest his soul) was on campus. We had the opportunity to tour and get to know the campus for the first time accompanied by our Rector Mr. Terzioğlu and our Student Resources Director Mrs. Koyunsağan. I think it is an opportunity that has been given to very few people. They canceled their own schedule and spent the evening with us. At that moment, we had already realized that Sabancı University was the “right school”.
What are the differences between yourself 20 years ago and yourself today, and how did Sabancı University contribute to that change?
M.Ö: At the age of 18, in Istanbul, you live your own life away from your family, staying in the dormitory. It teaches you to plan your own life very well, and it has a lot of reflections on your professional life.
What comes into your mind when you think of Sabancı University in 20 years? What are your dreams for Sabancı University for the next 20 years? What about yourself?
M.Ö: “Creating and Developing Together”. I did not mean much to me 20 years ago. However, today I understand much better what it means.
I think that Sabancı University will retain the value and meaning of the its slogan “Creating and Developing Together”, which constitutes its founding philosophy, 20 later as well. I believe that Sabancı University, which “showed its difference” with this philosophy 20 years ago, will continue to make a difference/show its difference as a “global university without a campus” 20 years from now.
Where and how would you be now if your paths hadn't crossed with Sabancı University?
M.Ö: Probably Boğaziçi University. But I would still prefer Sabancı University for my Master's Degree.