Boğaziçi University Graduation Speech

And we have come to the end of another beautiful story…

This is not actually an end; it is a new beginning to share what we have gained at Boğaziçi with others. Today, here, we will toss our caps into the air like seeds that will each turn into a different beautiful flower in the spring, and we will share the uniqueness of being Boğaziçi students with different lives…

Being student of Boğaziçi is different because this is not an ordinary school that confines us with the majors we are studying or have completed. This is a university that is our mentor, guide, and a place that teaches us through its examples.

It’s a warm home where we individually detached ourselves from our homelands but never want to detach ourselves anymore, a crazy love that makes us shout, “Thank goodness, I’m a Boğaziçi student!” as we curse while letting off steam at Manzara after the most challenging exams, a utopian island that makes us feel more free than anywhere else in the world.

We are Boğaziçi people…

We, who, despite being labeled as ‘apolitical,’ stood together in the thousands, resisted together in the squares, and walked together as humans with the unique culture of Boğaziçi that spans over 150 years. We were placed on top of Mount Kaf Dağı (Mount Ida) and surprised those who thought we were detached from society by reaching out our hands to share their joys and sorrows.

As Halide Edip said, “Education is in vain if it does not shape people with humane feelings and understanding.” The education we received at Boğaziçi was not in vain; we felt it inside us as we beat with one heart and ached as one soul.

And this feeling deepened and intensified with each person from Boğaziçi…

Nuri Bilge Ceylan winning the Palme d’Or made us all happy, but knowing that he is also a person from Boğaziçi increased our happiness even more. The hundreds of miners who lost their lives in Soma plunged us into deep sorrow, but the fact that some of them were loved ones of our friends from Boğaziçi deepened our grief even further. When we learned that Melih Kibar was a person from Boğaziçi, we watched “Hababam Sınıfı” with even greater joy, and the deaths of our Boğaziçi friends who left us untimely filled our hearts with even more pain.

Because we have become a big family at Boğaziçi…
We shared the same lawns, laughed and had fun at the same Manzara, relaxed at the same Petekler, and waited for the shuttle at the same Steps to make it to class on time. We developed a strange language among ourselves, one that others couldn’t understand, and we felt sad and happy about things that many wouldn’t comprehend.

Maybe now, before we even say our names, we say, ‘I’m from Boğaziçi!’…

This is not a label…

This is the name of a philosophy of life, the embodiment of a culture that has been imprinted on every one of our thoughts and cells for over 150 years. This is a guarantee given to humanity and the future;

Don’t be afraid as long as I exist!
Because I, as a person from Boğaziçi, am a member of a culture that transcends systems and ideologies.
Neither today’s pressures nor policies can change me from being a Boğaziçi person…
Boğaziçi is a 150-year history, and I am a part of it…

In summary, saying ‘I’m a person from Boğaziçi!’…

Thank you…

In the words of the old saying, thanks to our esteemed professors who are worth kissing their hands for sharing their vast knowledge with us. Thanks to all the elected rectors who have worked to turn our university into a more livable campus, to all the hardworking but often unnamed workers who smile and say ‘Good luck!’ to us.

But most of all, thank you to you…
To my fellow students who make Boğaziçi…
Thank you to you who have given me as much as this unique university has given me…

Even if one day we are separated from each other, we know that our paths are not separate…
And as we continue to walk the same path, one day, our hands will join again in friendship…
Even if we part, we cannot be separated…

The Story of the Text…

The above text was written by me for Ayşegül Acar, a 2014 graduate of the Tourism Management Department of Boğaziçi University, for her graduation ceremony speech at the Faculty of Applied Sciences.

Ayşegül reached out to me on the evening of June 21st, stating that she was a fan of my blog. She asked for help with her graduation speech, and although I am not particularly skilled at writing on demand, I asked for some time to think about it.

My only question to her was whether she had any specific content requests. She asked for a speech that would represent not only her but also the other graduates, one that would convey the importance of Boğaziçi, the joy of graduation, the university life, friendships, social life, and emotions, all without being clichéd.

I didn’t write the speech for money, as I cannot put a price on my writing. This is one of the reasons I don’t include advertisements on my blog. Ayşegül’s only request was to mention my name during the speech, and she gladly accepted this request.

I prepared the text while traveling from my family’s home in Sinop. I imagined giving a graduation speech and created and refined the text accordingly. When I sat down at my computer on Tuesday, the text was essentially ready, it just wasn’t written down yet, like the hundreds of other unwritten pieces in my mind that had not yet met you, my dear readers.

While writing the text, I had two things in mind. First, that this was just a two-page text and it would be read on a beautiful day, and second, that Ayşegül was one of my readers and she liked my writing. So, the text had to contain positive elements and be remembered fondly, but it also had to carry traces of my writing and be balanced.

Therefore, I mentioned how we were happy with Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s success and saddened by the tragedy in Soma, how we enjoyed watching “Hababam Sınıfı” with Melih Kibar, and how the deaths of our Boğaziçi friends who left us prematurely added to our pain. I also referenced our unique language that is a mix of Turkish and English, emphasizing that this is something unique to us. And at the end of the text, I added a thank you to the silent workers on campus, along with the rector and other professors.

Ayşegül liked the text very much, and her professor who received it said, “This is the most beautiful graduation speech I have seen in a long time…” and conveyed their congratulations to me. I was happy to hear that, but at the same time, I was sad. Why hadn’t a beautiful graduation speech like this been written at a university with so many talented students for such a long time?

And today, at the graduation ceremony, Ayşegül Acar delivered her graduation speech at Albert Long Hall. According to what Ayşegül told me, the speech was very well received, and it even raised questions about who I am :)

If Ayşegül can provide us with a copy of the video, I will cut the speech part and add it to this article. I hope we get our hands on the video so that I can share it with you from here…

A Thank You from Me…

And now, I want to thank Ayşegül as well…
For reaching out to me, a reader who follows my blog, for allowing me to experience a different kind of joy even though it’s not my graduation…

And thank you, Boğaziçi…

Even though I get mad at you from time to time, you have a special and unique place in my life…

Thank goodness you exist, Boğaziçi…
Thank you, dear readers…

Note from the Future (February 7, 2021)

I simplified this text by excluding the introduction and thank-you sections and recorded it. I uploaded it to my SoundCloud account and added it to this text.

I am a person from Boğaziçi, Boğaziçi is mine, Boğaziçi is all of ours…