This year’s Google Student Ambassador (GSA) program in Europe brought together 57 students from 26 countries and 54 universities.
Akif Karaismailoğlu (MAN/II) is serving as Bilkent’s Google Student Ambassador during 2013-2014. Google Student Ambassadors have the unique opportunity to serve as a direct link between Google and the students on their campuses, for whom they can hold workshops, training sessions and events exploring Google’s core products, programs and initiatives.
We asked Akif to tell us about his experience at the summit and to give us a glimpse of his plans for Bilkent students. Here is what he said: We had such a great experience in Dublin as ambassadors. The summit included many highlights, such as visiting the Google offices in Dublin, getting to know about Google’s latest products, hanging out with Googlers and learning about Google culture. I found the work environment very inspiring and motivating. It was also great to have the chance to network with such talented students, who came from all around Europe.
I’m excited to be the first Google Student Ambassador from my university. It’s an amazing honor to represent Google products and share their features and capabilities with my classmates. As a student ambassador, I’m trying to help with some club activities on campus relating to Google products. I’m also working with the Young Entrepreneurs Club, and my friends help me a lot in organizing these activities. We’ve had some cool events, such as the Youtube Music Awards viewing party and “Hangout Talks” with Googlers. I especially want to highlight the Hangout Talks, which will continue next semester as well. They offer students a great opportunity to meet Googlers through video conferences. Last week, we hosted Cüneyt Unar, who works as a mobile business development manager in Google’s Dublin office, and had a little chat about the working environment at Google.
And we not only organize events—we also help to spread the word about the scholarships that Google offers to students. For example, Google recently announced two scholarships: one is the Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship for students studying computer science or a closely related technical field, and the other is the Google Europe Scholarship for Students with Disabilities. Students can follow “Google Student Events Bilkent” on G+ and Facebook to keep up with the latest updates about Google.