Do you
think that students are the only people at Bilkent who have stressful, difficult lives,
running from one exam to another and spending sleepless nights doing assignments and
studying? Well, a day in the Bilkent Nizamiye is even busier and more stressful
than one of ours. This week's Campus Faces are very well known to us: the Bilkent
University security officers. Academics and students, employees and visitors--everyone
sees them at least twice a day. No matter what time it is, early in the morning or late at
night, they're ready to check our ID cards whenever we enter the campus.
The difficulty of their job is very obvious. During one hour there, I saw many people with
many different requests and problems: for instance, visitors giving funny excuses because
they didn't want to leave their ID or driver's license. (Just for the record, never in
Bilkent history has an ID card been lost in the Nizamiye. Visitors can leave
their ID with confidence.)
One of the very patient and kind security officers, Sebahattin Uğurlu, has worked at
Bilkent since 1996. Each day, after eight tiring hours in the Nizamiye, he is
still happy to work at Bilkent and says that every day has a different adventure. In a
single day, he sees hundreds of people and their ID cards. Another security officer, Halis
Sancak, who has been a Bilkent employee since 1993, says one thing he gets tired of is
people asking for directions. But, he says he likes to work here and has a great
relationship with the students. Sometimes people even bring baklava to the
officers, and have nice conversations with them.
However, visitors or strangers may sometimes create problems or confusion. One time a
visitor said that he was going to Sahil Park. “But,” said the officer, “there's
no Sahil Park at Bilkent. There's a CYBER Park, is that what you're looking for?”
“No, there's no place with that name, and there's no way to go to Eskişehir or Çankaya
from Bilkent...” These are things the officers get tired of telling people. But putting
these difficulties with visitors aside, the security officers get along very well with the
students, even the international ones. One time an international student came in and left
her ID. The officer asked her in English, "Where are you going?" The
international student replied, "Kütüphane," (library) in Turkish.
While I was talking with them, a student stopped by to drop off a dozen pens, because he
had heard that they use up a pen per day with all the writing they do. How thoughtful!
The officers know how serious their job is. They spend sleepless nights on duty without
complaint... and after that, a box of baklava can make them happy. So, we thank
them for protecting our school, and wish them all the best!
Gülay
Acar (COMD/II)
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