By İrem Naz Duymuş (AMER/IV) & Eda Emekoğlu (AMER/IV)
nazduymus@ug.bilkent.edu.tr
eda.emekoglu@ug.bilkent.edu.tr
Dearest Readers, I would like to welcome you all to another year of Bilkent. Though it is the first for some, I am one of the elders now, being a senior. If you are wondering whether I feel nostalgic when I see the freshmen walking around G building with confused looks, yes I do. I would love to remember the absolute nonsense I felt when I first looked around for my classroom. So again, welcome fellow G building wanderers, Bilkent is excited to have you.
Maybe it’s the sight of freshmen wandering around campus looking for classrooms or trying to figure out Ankara altogether, but I suddenly feel obligated to help the youngsters, my fellow Bilkenters. Therefore, this year you will be receiving my unsolicited advice, but for now I think it is best you hear some little hacks for around campus:
1. If you are short on money, never go to any of the open buffet places on campus. They will most definitely exceed your budget, even if it feels like they won’t.
2. The best filter coffee and matcha latte on campus is from the café in
G building.
3. The best way to catch a seat on a 5:30 p.m. shuttle to Tunus or Bahçeli is by taking it from the Mayfest stop if you are on the main campus.
4. The library will always exceed your expectations in terms of resources. Go out there and bury yourself in whatever you like.
5. If someone asks you for directions for either of the FF buildings, just say that you don’t know because you will never describe it successfully.
6. If you fill the empty jug at the table you’re sitting at in the dining hall, you will always be a hero.
7. The best place to get food or a dessert or even a good “demli” çay is the café inside Dorm 70.
8. You will hear people mentioning finals on week four; they are bots, don’t listen to them.
9. Go to club/society events but don’t get intimidated if you feel like an outcast when people act like family. They are not.
10. There is no right way to be a “Bilkenter”: just buy a mug, and the rest will follow.
My questionable decisions and mistakes have led me to these ten most precious pieces of wisdom around campus. I am very happy that I get to share them with you.
So, to everyone just starting out, welcome. Get lost, find your own shortcuts, but please don’t actually get lost. I can’t help you with that.
