Home away from home

Tarsus American College, or TAC, in the southern city of Mersin’s Tarsus, began admitting female boarding students. This year, the six prep students and two 9th-grade students who make up the school’s first female boarders are very happy with their home in Maraş Building. 

Doğa Ünsal, a prep student, comes from the Marmara town of Gölcük: “I love boarding on campus. It is like my home, therefore I have never felt like a stranger. I first came to Tarsus two years ago and I liked the school very much. But I was sad because the school did not provide boarding facilities then. I was very happy when I heard that boarding facilities were opened and I see that I made a very good decision. It feels really good to have your home on campus.”  

Yağmur Ünsal, another prep student, said, “I also come from Gölcük, İzmit, with my twin sister, Doğa. I love being a boarding student and I have gotten very much used to it. Of course, sometimes there are problems, but we are able to solve them between us. I especially like the weekend activities, because there are very nice programs. It was a total coincidence for me to be here, because I was not originally planning to come to TAC, therefore I had no idea about its boarding facilities.”  

İrem Tuzcuoğlu from Istanbul is a ninth-grader. “My first year was very difficult because there was no dormitory for girls. I thought that was very unfair. But later the girls’ dormitory was opened and those days are over. Everything is very good now. I truly feel at home this year and indeed, when I go back home, I miss my friends at the dormitory, my sisters. Here, everything is beautiful, everybody is warm and welcoming, we turned the dormitory into a home for us and my dorm mates have become my family in Tarsus.”

Gülşen Seçen, a prep student, comes from Kadirli of the southern city of Osmaniye. She thinks it is a beautiful feeling to start a new life in a new place with new people with whom you have a lot in common: “Here I have a new life and new friends. We come across new cultures since we are from different places, and this is enriching for my friends and I. It has taken such an important part in our lives that we use the word ‘home’ when we are talking about the dormitory. This word makes us happy. When they hear it, it also makes those people who have provided these facilities for us happy. I am happy here and proud to be one of the first girl boarders of TAC. I was bound to be a boarding student in high school. I had no choice of rejecting such a good opportunity. It was a great opportunity for me to be able to attend TAC. It really is a privilege to study here.”

Seren Çağlar from the 9th grade said: “This is my second year at TAC. I come from Istanbul. I think boarding on campus is great, because here, it is like your home and the people are like your family. I enjoy this feeling as much as everyone does, because these are just the things that someone away from their home needs. I have been keen on being a boarding student from my early years because of a film I watched when I was a kid. When it became clear that I would study at TAC, my mom was very surprised, since I had told her years earlier that one day I would study as a boarding student and be away from her. It became a reality.”  

 A prep student from the southern city of Adana, Ayşeğül Çelik, had similar feelings: “I came to TAC from Adana, which sets me apart from many of my friends here because Adana is so close. We moved to Adana from Istanbul last year. I had not even heard the name of this school before, let alone considered attending it. After moving here, I was told that TAC is the best school in the region. Now, I very much appreciate the advice. Some think that it does not make sense to board on campus when your family is in Adana. However, from the TAC alumni I had heard that what makes the TAC experience worthwhile is to be a boarding student. I chose to stay at the dormitory to learn to be self-disciplined and stand on my own feet. I am happy with this decision. Here we have a happy family atmosphere with our brothers and sisters and teachers. I am a five-day boarder so I am neither really away from my home nor this great environment at school.”

Another prep student, İpek İdil Küçükkaya, said, “Boarding on campus was entirely my decision and I am happy to be boarding. I come from Istanbul. I had acquaintances who are graduates of this school and I took their word when I decided to come to Tarsus American College. It’s nice to feel at home on campus. We all say, ‘let’s go back home’ when we spend time outside of campus, because it really is our home. I have no complaints about boarding. If I were faced with the same decision, I would choose to be a boarding student again.”