Excitement that can be only word describing the feeling I have right now, before attending George Washington University family.
Hello everybody, My name is Emre Ceyhun, student from Bogaziçi University, Istanbul. As an undergraduate, I began volunteering at two non-profit, service organizations. I did not imagine that these experiences could significantly shape my career plans, as I was already set on a career focus in public policy rather than politics. However, after two years of service to the underprivileged –both Syrian refugees and Roman communities in Turkey—I can clearly see that this is, by far, the greatest experience I have ever had. It has taught me the greatest reward of selfless service: to be able to touch and improve another’s life beyond his or her own capacity, and in turn have one’s own soul fed through validating smiles and warmth. In alignment with my volunteer experience, I chose to shift my career path toward conflict solution and negotiations between political bodies in order to touch and improve societies in the most direct way.
Choosing my school, I consider of having to choose the most valuable school, provides me with lots of opportunities, in terms of the courses helping me clarify my view and add American point of view to it, and the social clubs in which I can communicate and build networks with people who want to have the same career path with me. After my research, it is clear that the right choice for me is GWU because beside the easy application steps and helping exchange staff it also provides a great deal of opportunities at the heart of the USA, in Washington DC. So far, I communicated with No-Lost Generation when some representatives attend to World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, a student club aiming at being beneficial ( instead of helping because help includes the status in it and impose the fact that while one helping is superior, the other helped is inferior . At that student club, I find the right implementation of this thought, which makes me happy because it shows that we are at the same tone.) to Syrian children education which is the target group with which I have been studying for 2 years. Also, the professors of my courses such as Ethnic Conflict and Peacebuilding or Work, Poverty and Public Policy will help me to discern the structure of society in academic manner and add more on my career plans.
Having seen those opportunities provided by GWU creates nothing but excitement about the life in Washington DC and in GWU, as one clearly can see. I know the experience of being alone and of the family that I am about to attend will mature my thoughts on my future plans and the way I look to the life. I hope to come back to my home university with the culture of GWU and projects I aim to progress in Turkey with the help of the maturing process in DC.