Today we’ll try to answer the question I get asked the most. First off, I’ll write an Istanbul-focused piece and look at things from a computer engineering perspective, because I’m someone who lives in Istanbul but studied Computer Engineering at Kütahya Dumlupınar University. I think the most sensible thing is to pass on what I know, as well as I can.

Based on my experience, studying in Istanbul is a very advantageous situation — but many friends aren’t aware of it. Even though I studied in Kütahya, I was someone who came to Istanbul at every free opportunity, attended events and tried to meet new people. The first question is usually: “I can’t get into a school in Istanbul — should I choose one outside the city instead? What are the pros and cons for me?”

I’ll answer according to two different personalities. If you are outgoing, not bothered by long journeys, not tired out by relocating, able to keep up with a fast tempo, and have already developed yourself in certain areas, then graduating or not graduating from one of Turkey’s prominent schools won’t mean that much for you. Do you know what good universities actually give you? A circle of people who read more, research more and are eager to build. But if you’re already running from event to event, doing your own reading, taking your own initiatives in certain subjects, then there’s no real gap left between you and someone studying at that school. Of course, a school’s name always adds a plus — but if you put in twice the effort of a friend studying there, I see no reason why you can’t reach their level and then pass them. In this world, the people who win are the ones who work, build new things, and can announce and explain them to others. Don’t forget that.

I also want to say this: ambition is good, but too much of it is harmful. Don’t advance on this road by crushing people. Strive, work — but while doing so, don’t cut off communication with your family and friends and focus only on the work. Let’s do the simplest sanity check: you became the richest person in the world, but without your family who loves you and friends who accept and love you for who you are, what will you do with those sums you earned? Money is beautiful when you spend it with the people you love, and for them. In short, don’t hurt people just to earn more.

Now, the other question: how do I improve myself? In this day and age there’s so much content and so many resources. You only need to research and to ask. Don’t hesitate to ask people questions — but within a frame of respect. Your first question should be: what do I want to do? Like the Germans do when guiding kids in high school, you can decide by looking at what you’re good at in daily life and what you do with love and skill. What do you enjoy doing day to day? Do you sit down and watch Adobe Photoshop tutorials on Youtube by yourself, or do the electrical projects on Murat Şen’s channel excite you? Or is reading a passion, and do you love dreaming up epic stories and putting them on paper? Or maybe you play great basketball, or shoot arrows like a legend. You don’t need to look far to find yourself. Say you watched a space movie, got curious about the stars and the laws of physics, did your own research, built a site on the topic and presented everything known in your own language. Then you could study aerospace, or physics, or some program I don’t know the name of that combines the two.

To find yourself, examine your daily life. Grab a pen and paper. And start: what do I love doing, what do I enjoy? Not everyone has to be a lawyer, a doctor or an engineer. Don’t forget that. First, find yourself.

For example, if I were someone about to take the university exam today — what would I do, or what did I do back then? When I go back to my high school years, I don’t remember playing that many games. I only remember playing Minecraft, and even that we played to produce Youtube content — we were having fun, but still trying to create something. What else did I do? Back when Youtube wasn’t so popular here and foreign content ruled, I opened it up and learned Photoshop. By the way, I understood almost no English. So how was I learning? Man, I paused every second, replicated the steps those guys did one by one and figured out which tool did what — that’s how I learned to use these Adobe products. I learned without anyone saying “come, let me teach you”, and that’s exactly why I think I learned these programs better. That’s also why, when I poke around similar software for 30-60 minutes, I immediately grasp the logic — because they’re all copies of each other, really. My last years of high school were spent learning new things: Adobe programs, Cinema 4D, WordPress, html, css, Construct 2 and so on, plus computer hardware knowledge. But I was genuinely curious about this stuff — I was curious before university even began.

Now you might say: “I’ve started university — what can I do?” Again, I’m writing with computer engineering in mind. Let me start with where I applied and what I did. I began with Microsoft Student Partners — I don’t think it’s active anymore. I built some great friendships there. With those friends we joined hackathons, met lots of people at them, and even got the chance to go to places like Silicon Valley. GDG events, other communities’ events — I hopped from one to the next. I wandered around like someone starving for new knowledge. These days, if you follow the right people on social networks — especially Instagram — you can find plenty of events and communities where you can take initiative. Also, internships matter a lot in engineering. Every summer, and even during the term, I tried to work at a company as much as I could. Blesh, Microsoft, Kütahya Porselen, Startershub and many more — I had the chance to work with all of them. “Bro, how did you find these places, how did it happen?” Two ways. First, at those events I kept going to — that’s where I met people. Second, it happened because I did my work with love and care. The other day I realized something: I never actually applied to any of the jobs I’ve had — either someone recommended me or they invited me. That’s how I completed all my internships and gained so much experience, thank God.

Right now you have Udemy, Youtube, blogs in every language, so many events, hackathons and competitions — and if, despite all that, you still sit down at the computer and say “let’s watch Netflix”, I’m not sure how much use you’ll be to anyone. Also: have a goal. If you set out without a purpose, you’ll stall somewhere and won’t move forward. At least that’s how it was for me.

Let me close with this. If you’re hardworking, the school’s name doesn’t matter, and neither does the city you study in. If you can get up every week and chase the opportunities in Istanbul from wherever you study, or cut your sleep short to attend the events in your own city, you can make things happen — you can change yourself. And if you change, the world changes. Don’t forget it.

Stay healthy. May Allah protect you. 🙂