BY NAUSHERWAN AZIZ (MAN/II)
Name: Anosha Rahim
Department: ARCH/I
Country of Origin: Pakistan
What do you like best about Turkey?
I love how every place in Turkey is so beautiful and picturesque. No matter where you go (Bilkent or beyond), you’re bound to find something worth taking a picture of.
Are there any similarities between Turkey and your home country?
I find the Turks’ hospitality very similar to that of my countrymen. There have been more than a few occasions where I’ve been offered tea with snacks when I walk into places like someone’s home, the professor’s office, the beauty salon, or sometimes even the bank. This is very similar to Pakistan, where when a guest arrives, you must treat them with the utmost respect and offer them chai at the very least.
What will you miss most about Bilkent?
I will miss being around the friends that I’ve made here. Nothing is more precious than the company of those who understand your life, care about you and are there for you with tissues and a shoulder to cry on during rainy days.
What’s your favorite place on campus, and why?
My favorite place on campus is FF Building, because it’s very close to the dorms, and when I want to get away from the buzz at Bilka and sit/study in a quiet place, FF is where I flee to. What’s your favorite Turkish food and/or favorite part of Turkish culture?
My favorite Turkish food is İskender. It’s so distinctive and different from anything I’ve ever had before, but it tastes so succulent, delicious and filling.
Where do you expect to see yourself 10 years from now?
I can’t make any specific predictions right now, but I do see myself as someone who will be traveling a lot in 10 years. I don’t know which part of the world I’ll be in or what I’ll be doing there, but I expect I’ll be hopping from place to place.
What’s the hardest challenge you’ve handled in Turkey?
This is something most international students face, but my hardest challenge in Turkey was trying to incorporate myself into the campus social scene. When I first came here, I thought that since Bilkent was an international university, most people would interact in English. But, to my utter dismay, most students here prefer to speak in Turkish, and very few make the effort to include international students in the conversation.
What cities have you visited in Turkey, and which one is your favorite?
So far I’ve been to İstanbul and İzmir, and İzmir is definitely my favorite city because of its warm weather and beaches.
Do you have any hidden talents?
If you sit still in front of me for four hours, I can sketch your face exactly like it is.
What’s an interesting question or comment you hear frequently about Bilkent/Turkey?
One very common comment people make about Bilkent is how it’s a bubble where everything is better than anywhere else in Ankara. I don’t know if that’s true, because I haven’t been to a lot of places in Ankara, other than the ones that fall on the routes of the TMD buses.
Describe yourself in three words.
Creative. Pragmatic. Meticulous.
If you could master any skill, which one would you choose, and why?
The one skill that I’ve been trying to master ever since high school is the high art of time management. For an architecture student, it’s not the difficulty of the courses that gets to you, but the severe lack of time and sleep. It would be nice if I could learn to have more control over exactly where I spend my time, so I can avoid being one of those college students who constantly complains about not having a life or any friends.