Bilkent Dictionary


BY CÜNEYT YILMAZ (ECON/IV)
cuneyt_y@ug.bilkent.edu.tr

 

Photographs by Miyase Pınar Biltekin (CS/II)

 

So here I stand, as a senior who has spent five years of an otherwise joyful youth on this lovely campus grappling with a major called economics in order to get...what? A bachelor's degree? Well sir, no, Ibeg to differ with you. In my humble opinion, all those years of accumulating wisdom should boil down to more than just a selfish purpose. Of course, we all know that I'm by no means here to save the world, which is very unlikely anyway given the lack of alien attacks nowadays, but I'd like to think of my actions as serving the greater good. To prove that I do actually care about the people who come after me -- poor, baffled little freshmen that they are -- I've prepared a dictionary in the light of my past experiences here at Bilkent. This very article, written out of the goodness of my heart, will hopefully assist a pupil or two -- if not, well then, boa sorte!

BCC: The computer center in the B Building, swarming with people who print the same boring ENG101 essay a thousand times because they don't know which room is Lab 307 and which is not. Go there either early in the morning or late at night, just so I don't have to stand the sight of you.

Bilkent News: Our official school newspaper where, besides the usual campus news, you can find the likes of me rambling on about their own lives, causing you to go, "Oh my God! This is so me!" But hey, don't miss out on the other columnists; unlike me, they do actually talk about some serious stuff.

Differential Equations: I'm not talking about the kind of differentials they teach in those introductory calculus courses, no. Guys, this is some serious math going on here. It's a course -- or torment if you will -- they only let math majors and minors endure. It might have an amazing professor like the one who, for some reason, had to allocate his precious time between me and those y's who are always taken derivative of by some rude so-and-so; but still, get out of there as fast as you can.

Exchange students: Extremely loud laughter, higher curves -- no pun intended -- lots of partying. Envy is the verb you're looking for here!

Finals: They say that looks can be deceiving. Well so can names! Don't let the word "final" fool you -- there are infinitely many of them. Try and ignore them, that's the best way to...hmmm...survive?

Spring Fest: The only time of the year when the dullness of Ankara declines to an acceptable level. Unfortunately, though, the academic calendar claims that we aren't having a Spring Fest this year. Let's hope our rector reads this and decides to have one after all...or to fire me.

Marmara Restaurant: The most crowded dining hall on campus because that's where the cheapest food is. If you're one of those low-IQ people who occupy a table first and get their food afterward, I forbid you to read the rest of this column! 

Mozart: Universities are places where art and daily life go hand in hand, right? Well at least here at Bilkent, that is the case. Mozart is the café on the basement floor of the B Building. A statue of Mozart is located in the middle of the cafe to go with the name. I personally love them for their 3 in 1's, but dieters fancy the place for the salads, too. For a long while, Mozart was THE trendiest spot on campus. Fiero is the new sexy, though.

Stars: See, if there's one thing about us Bilkenters, it's that we love abbreviations. Bliss is one of them, Stars another. It stands for "Students Academic Registration System," but concerns people who come here for non-academic purposes too.

Webmail: The e-mail account you usually log into to see if this week's ENG101 class has been canceled but instead learn that yet another student club is organizing a party. Well, you know what they say: study hard, party harder.