English Doga Prezi

I left my country (Turkey) when I was 10 and came to UAE. I was super alienated due to the fact that I did not know English and I did not know anyone Turkish (other than my parents). I struggled a lot due to language barrier. I could not relate to any of my classmates culturally. In Turkey, it was easy to become friends with almost anyone because everyone was raised in a similar way. However that was not the case in UAE because it was very diverse and everybody had a different culture than mine.

First year

Getting used to everything

I started learning English and getting used to the diverse environment of the UAE. I started having foreign friends and learning about their cultures. For instance, I had a Mexican friend who I constantly asked about his culture and I was so fascinated with it thus triggering a phase in my life where I studied about histories of different cultures.

Starting to appreciate my culture.

After a while, I started having Turkish friends where I related to them culturally and I could speak my language with them. I realized that my culture was filled with many fascinating events. I found myself learning about my culture. However, it was hard to do so due to the fact that not many people were interested in the culture. I could not speak about the facts I learnt and when I did, no one seemed to care.

My interest in history and politics grew

The more I researched, I developed an opinion about the events that are happening in the world. I started to understand the difference between biased news and unbiased news. This helped me understand where people got their information just by talking to people. Most people saw me as the “weird guy” because of my robust interest in politics and history.

My old school

My old school was a school where I had 3 exams a day and I was greatly struggling academically. This greatly curbed my social life because I simply did not have time to talk to my friends from studying. This negatively affected my psychological well being and my parents decided that I should go to a school where I get a chance to actually be social.

CIS

When I first came to CIS I was shocked by the fact that the school was the most diverse place I have ever seen. I immediately started to better academically and socially. I made new friends who were super similar to me with similar interests.

For the first time, I have been in an environment where everyone was interested in politics as I was and it made me feel good knowing that I was not alone. Throughout, I learnt about many cultures and their standpoints in current events.

MUN

My pictures

My first year in UAE

3 years before I came to UAE. I was educted only in Turkish.

My presentation

My video Presentation