Pınar İnan, Business Administration, Binghamton University-ODTÜ’2018
UK, Australia, Spain, America and Turkey. I couldn't decide where I wanted to go to university during high school because all had dozens of pluses and minuses. While doing an internship, preparing a portfolio, taking IELTS exam and spending high school years solving tests; I found out about the dual diploma program. I had the chance to learn about the details during university preferences days while vacationing with my family in America.
“How do I move to Ankara when my home, my family, my friends and my life is in Istanbul? The time I get used to my life at METU took less than my parents travel back to Istanbul. I spent only two years at METU as I passed preparation class; but in those two years I worked hard, learned a lot and had a lot of fun. I graduated from the school where I started with worried eyes, and I graduated with full eyes.
Binghamton was an amazing opportunity for me to stand on my own feet and realize my dreams. While taking classes like African dance, stress control, ethical-legal-market and drawing which a regular Business Administration student cannot take in Turkey, I did a minor in “Marketing‘ which has been my interest since a very young age. While I was in America, I both had fun and learned a lot.
When I was a sophomore, I realized that the program I was studying was a very special and a very valuable program; because whenever I mentioned about the dual diploma program, the doors opened in front of me incessantly. I tried to make the most of the opportunities that this special program offered me. In Turkey, PwC, Eczacibasi, the Cer Modern; Enarch Limited in the UK; In the United States, I did my internship at the Dual Diploma Program Office and reinforced what I learned in the classroom with real-life teachings. Apart from my internships, I have tried to take active roles in student communities in both schools.
I became a member of the Foreign Policy and International Relations Society in the first year and R & D in the third year at METU. We even started a hackaton called University4Society with a very strong team in the R & D Community, and I became the first marketing director of this project. In my first year at Binghamton, I joined the community called Binghamton Consulting Group and learned a lot about the consulting industry in America. In the fourth grade, I was accepted to the National Society of Leadership and Success, and I continued my TEDx adventure at TEDxBinghamton. In addition, I became the president of the Turkish Culture Association (TURCA), which has not been active for a long time, and worked with a great team of 7 people to revive the community. Besides improving very important skills such as leadership and effective decision making, thanks to TURCA I was invited to a Republic Day that was celebrated at one of New York City's most beautiful buildings "The University Club of New York”, by the New York Embassy and Consulate-General, I never had such an unforgettable evening in all my life.
Although I received job offers from good companies after graduation, I decided that returning to Istanbul was a better choice for me; I said goodbye to America in the hope to see it again later with all the beautiful things I learned and wonderful memories I gained. Now, I work at Kantar Insights, one of the best research companies in the world, under the giant holding named WPP. Today, I have the opportunity to read much of the world's research before anyone else, and to learn new things every day at work in a field that I was interested in during my university education: market research. I have the opportunity to develop myself on a subject that is becoming more and more important, such as data analysis, to bring fast and appropriate solutions to the problems of the globalizing world and to see Pınar who entered the university, I can never deny the contribution of the program. For this reason, I think that the dual diploma program is a very valuable program that provides students with the opportunity to have a real university experience, enabling them to develop both personally and academically and to be fully prepared for life after graduation.