ROBERT COLLEGE GRADUATION SPEECH
Ayşe KULİN ACG 61
June 25, 2012
Faculty Members, Ladies & Gentlemen and the privileged Graduating Students of
Robert College lend me your ears! I have come to praise Robert College, the
institution that has contributed greatly to what I am today. But this I will do in
Turkish so that the parents among us, in case they do not speak English, will
understand what I am saying. I will address them first.
Dear Parents, perhaps some of you made financial sacrifices, like my parents, to
send your child to this school, or accepted to be away from your child in another
city. You did the right thing! Today your efforts yield their harvest! From now on
your children will embark on their journey through life with the advantage of
being an RC graduate. Whichever university they attend, or work they do, they
will always keep their RC heritage. This is a privilege. This is a state of ‘being
special’. I know it very well because I received this diploma on a day in June,
exactly 51 years ago.
In those years the girls studied on this campus, and the boys were in Bebek, at
the school that we called RC, which is today’s Bosphorus University. Our two
schools met frequently and organized joint events. We used to rehearse our
drama productions all along the year, we had one or two concerts each semester,
and we organized dances without fail. The parties would begin at 7.00 pm and go
on until 11.00, and, believe it or not, this was sufficiently satisfactory for us.
There was no kissing, but we could hold hands and look into each other’s eyes.
There were no I-pods, we didn’t listen to the music through earphones, but
played discs on the turntable; but we didn’t sway on the same spot like tree
branches in the wind, the way the young people do today, instead we danced like
crazy. There was no TV, we listened to the radio. Even the fax didn’t exist, which
is already history today, and we had to send telegrams from the post office for
any urgent information, paying a fee based on the number of words. Cell phones
didn’t exist, we had to go through the operator for long-distance calls, and had to
wait hours to be connected. The internet didn’t exist, we wrote letters. We did
our researches in dust-covered archives and swallowed quantities of
bookworms. The computer, the internet, the cell phone, Facebook, twitting, or
tablets were only science-fiction elements.
In short, we lived in a world which may sound like the Stone Age to today’s
youth. Neither Turkey was like today’s Turkey, nor the US resembled today’s US.
Democracy was lacking, but our people and our governments were definitely
more innocent than today.
However, certain things didn’t change at all. A hardworking student in any school
was called a geek, today they are still called geeks. But, geek or not, the kids who
attended other schools in Istanbul were madly jealous of us because our school’s
students were special. We didn’t memorize the content, we learned. We didn’t
repeat what we learned, we presented. If a student committed a fault, the
punishment was also given by students, by the intermediary of the Student
Council. We were almost friends with our teachers. We had fun while we learned.
There were some students who found it hard to learn, but even they showed
poise. Poise!
Let me explain with an example what I mean by poise:
The year I started school, I committed some mischief and found myself before
Mrs. Hanson, the principal. She said: “Ayşaa, tell me then what the matter is” and
I told her the story excitedly and with apprehension, then I mumbled something
like “I even have witnesses, you can ask them if you don’t believe me”. Mrs.
Hanson said: “Look here, Ayşa. A person who tells the truth, who is responsible,
doesn’t need witnesses. You must inspire such confidence to me, so that I don’t
feel the need to check with anyone else. I should be able to say ‘if Ayşa says so, it
is so’. If you believe in yourself, I will also believe in you.”
To believe in me, to give me a responsibility! Wow!
This approach wasn’t common to Turks, at least not to my family. I was a big girl,
but whenever I took the train to visit my parents in Ankara during the vacation,
my grandmother asked adults to look after me, those total strangers who
happened to sit near me by chance. She didn’t know how to trust me.
Well, this is the first mark that Robert College left on me. That day I reflected at
length on what it means to be a trustworthy person and to be responsible. As this
approach of the administrators and teachers combined with our genetic
elements, an interesting mix was created: we blended the self-confidence of the
West with the inner discipline of the East, and we gained insight. A selfconfidence that doesn’t overwhelm others, an awareness devoid of arrogance!
This was what made the Robert College students different! I benefited from this
poise all my life. You will, too. You are already a well-equipped and lucky
generation, you own incredible resources as compared with us. Thanks to
advanced technology, you live in a connected, reachable, transparent world. All
knowledge and information is at the tip of your fingers. This is wonderful, you
should appreciate it to its just value. As to advanced democracy, which is much
talked about these days, whatever it is, you will hopefully be the ones to enjoy it!
Dear students, I know that the moment you will enter the university or find a job,
you will focus on earning money and becoming successful. At this point, based on
my experience of half a century, I will give you two advices. On your path to
success and gain, never forget these two points:
Keep in mind that we are the links of a single chain. Any one of us can become
very successful, informed or rich in time. But if those around us are unsuccessful,
unhappy, uneducated or hungry, it will cast a shadow on our assets. Whatever
you do, please think about a way to give a share of your gain, knowledge or
success to those who aren’t as fortunate as you. Consider this from a broad
perspective, not just for your compatriots, but for all the needy people in the
world. This is not a political standpoint, I only recommend this to preserve the
equilibrium in the society and in the universe. Never forget those who don’t
possess what you do, and initiate social commitment projects at the companies
or institutions where you work. And whatever you do, add to it some dose of
love, like you would add salt to a dish or sugar to a dessert, so that your work
doesn’t taste insipid.
Secondly, the world doesn’t have enough supplies for us anymore! Use water,
energy or food sparingly. When I was a child, my father said ‘turn off the light
when leaving a room, don’t steal energy that belongs to someone else’, but I
didn’t understand what he meant, I thought he was thinking about the electricity
bill. Today, wise people know that the water and the energy consumed for luxury
will not suffice for the needs of future generations.
You are the grandchildren of Ata (NdT: double meaning: ancestor and Atatürk)
who had an extremely broad vision. In addition, you attended a school where
east meets west, where two world perspectives and two souls come together, as
it says in our college song. Choose a balanced mix of both approaches, don’t
neglect your heart when using your brain. Be conscientious and sensitive, value
foresight and integrity. Be sure of yourself, but at the same time be modest and
compassionate; and always embrace the world with love.
I wish you health first, then good luck, happiness and success all your life.
Have a safe journey, dear RC students!