Inna Tsoi: "Exchange semester at Turkey was one of the brightest periods of my life"

August 20, 2015

Junior student of Business Administration department, Inna Tsoi is one of the students who had an outstanding opportunity to spend an exchange semester at Koc University in Istanbul.

“All my life I have been involved in various activities including sports, volunteering, and learning languages. I have always had a passion inside to get to know new cultures, meet different people, and never stop learning. That was one of the reasons why I chose to study at AUCA. Our Business Administration faculty is exceptional. I personally got to experience that while studying at one of the most prestigious Turkish schools in Istanbul - Koc University.

I found out about this exchange opportunity from students, who had already been to Koc. Later on I did some research and discovered that the school has some of the highest ratings in Turkey! I realized that I could not miss a chance to study at such university. I was very happy to find out that I got selected for the program. The application process is pretty simple; some of the most important factors are student’s GPA and motivation letters. I encourage everyone, who wish to study abroad to apply, even if he is not sure of the outcome. It is worth trying.

Of course, studying in Turkey and not elsewhere also influenced my decision as I imagined sea, hot sands, and amazing shopping. How surprised was I when upon my arrival it was snowing and we even had two snow days. Istanbul has conquered my heart! Europe and Asia come together in Istanbul what makes it a very multifaceted city. One can see centuries old mosques and churches standing by newly-built skyscrapers; narrow streets peacefully coexist with huge roads and bridges.

The most exciting and simultaneously difficult thing was to live by myself and adapt to a very different culture and lifestyle in a short period of time. It was a pure pleasure to interact with local people and enjoy the slow mode of life in Turkey. Not speaking Turkish at all when I arrived was very inconvenient as locals even speak better Russian than English. I came a little earlier before school starts, and was walking around with a dictionary or pointing at things, if I needed to buy something. Upon starting to learn it I fell in love with the language and enjoyed practicing it.

What I loved most is the university itself. The campus of Koc University is fascinating and has everything one could imagine including several gyms, ice-rink, pools, tennis courts and more. I was simply amazed by all the available facilities and surely took advantage of them. I joined ice-skating club, thanks to which I not only learned skating, but also made new friends and practiced my Turkish.

This exchange semester was very exciting and eventful. I learned to get along with many different people, listen, and share my views with them. I made connections with staff, local and exchange students, and Turkish citizens. It was definitely one of the brightest periods of my life. All the feelings, emotions, and memories it left can never fade away!”

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