Gülşen Kocaevli
Life is Short, Bees Are Flying
During our first days at Çankaya University, our instructors emphasized to us, as aspiring translators, that awareness should permeate every moment of our lives. We approached this idea with such sensitivity that, over the past four years, we never tired of asking “What if?” in everything we read, heard, or examined. With each passing year, our curiosity only grew—we became even more like “curious cats.” We fell; we got back up. We always asked questions and sought the answers that best fit them.Every answer we received on our path to becoming translators, though often accompanied by difficult challenges, reinforced our belief that one must “mature” in order to “become.” Thanks to the efforts of our dear instructors, we navigated this process with only minor scratches. While we often thought, “Let’s just finish this semester and take a breath,” the semesters ended. Now, even though we know we will miss those times, we enter the professional world as translators with a high level of awareness. Both our university and all of our instructors played a crucial role in this journey—and we are grateful for them. Yet, with this “cat-like” curiosity alone, we are not done. So let’s continue exploring, translating, maturing, and helping others grow along the way.
Elem Öztürk
My adventure at Çankaya University began with a thousand worries and doubts. I wasn’t sure if choosing Çankaya over other major universities in Turkey was the right decision—at least not until my education began. Our instructors’ first goal was to free us from the constraints of the education system we had been confined to until that moment, and to help us recognize and use our dormant creativity in the most effective way. This was how we committed ourselves to becoming individuals who create, not just use what has already been produced.Every course we took was taught by experts in their fields, and we progressed along the path they illuminated, stumbling and learning from our mistakes. Each of these experiences brought us a little closer to the title of “translator.” In this department, we learned to question, to be curious, to research, and to consider all possibilities. We discovered together that a sentence is not just a sentence—it can be a medium of communication that can be reflected upon for days. We had numerous opportunities not only in written translation but also in interpreting. We nervously stepped into the Andaş interpreting booths, places we had once been afraid even to pass by, and thanks to the support and training we received, we emerged as confident interpreters. As graduation approached, we were ready to enter the professional world as thoroughly trained translator candidates. In short, I entered Çankaya University full of a thousand anxieties and doubts—and left with a thousand reasons to be grateful.
Burak Giray
Four years ago, when I enrolled at Çankaya University, I was unaware of the many opportunities that awaited me. With its campus offering new and countless technological facilities, highly experienced academic staff, and international connections, Çankaya University gave me an unforgettable undergraduate experience. In the university entrance exam I took in 2010, I achieved a gratifying success by ranking within the top thousand. I entered the Translation and Interpreting Department at Çankaya University as a fully scholarship student. Throughout these four years, I have always been aware that I received education under the best conditions. Which translation student could have the chance to benefit so much from the Andaş Translation Laboratory? While studying in the Translation and Interpreting Department, I also started a double major in the Department of Political Science and International Relations. I studied at Valencia University through the Erasmus Program and the following year completed my Erasmus Internship in Spain as well. Considering that I accomplished all this within four years, it means I went through an undergraduate education that passed by like the wind. The reward for all this was a graduation ceremony I will never forget. Being among the top-ranking students, receiving a plaque from the school, and seeing my family proud instantly took away all my fatigue.