from fuvahmulah to ankara with love

04 Dec, 2023

Alright, let me take you back to where it all started. After my A-levels, I was kicking around at the Marine Research Centre in Maldives, planning for the next phase of my life. I had my heart set on the UK big names like the University of Manchester, Edinburgh, UCL, King’s College London, and Warwick. That was my dream, you know? I’d grown up hearing how UK unis were the gold standard, and honestly, I hadn’t even peeked at what else was out there. I applied, got offers, and was stuck picking between UCL or Edinburgh. The plan was simple, get in, study engineering, soak up that prestige. But then came the gut punch – money.

We’re talking about 170,000 British Pounds (back then, it was around 23 MVR for a Pound, so we are talking about 3.3 million MVR) for the whole ride, tuition, living costs, everything. That number still makes my head spin. Back home, I couldn’t snag the merit scholarships my friends who stayed back in Maldives got because I’d done my A-levels outside Maldives. No government student loan schemes back then either, just my dad ready to put our house in Fuvahmulah on the line with a BML “Kiyavaa” loan (a monstrous program with sky high interest rates). I owe him everything, he cares deeply about education and wanted me to make it big in life. He even borrowed cash from a friend for the student visa. Off I went to Sri Lanka, March 2013, buzzing for that UK student visa, thinking this was it.

Then, wham! rejected. Something about my bank account not having enough cash for the past 12 months. I was crushed! It wasn’t the end of the world, but at that age? Felt like it. My dad was going on and on with the bank nonstop, trying to fix it, but I started crunching numbers. How was he going to pay this off? How was I going to pay it off? We weren’t the kind of family that could shrug off that kind of debt. I was down, really down, just moping around, feeling stuck. Those BML loans were pesky, with the knowledge I had back then: I was supposed to start paying it off as soon as I was done with my undergrad..well what about postgrad?..what then!

Then one day, I’m chatting with this friend of mine who was studying medicine in Turkey. She’s like, “Hey, there are decent unis here, and in Europe too.” I wasn’t sold! my UK dream was still kicking..but it got me thinking. I hit up Times Higher Education and QS rankings, started poking around for engineering programs outside the UK. Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Turkey, places like Istanbul Technical University, Middle East Technical University, Bilkent University. I threw out some applications, just as a backup, I wasn’t serious about them. My head was still in UCL and Edinburgh. I’d already mapped out my postgrad options there, PhD plans, the works. I’m the type of person who plans way too far ahead.

A few weeks later, offers started trickling in. And the costs? Blew my mind. Places like ETH Zurich, TU Munich, Delft Uni of Tech, top-notch unis charging peanuts compared to the UK. Even lower ranked UK schools were way pricier than these heavy hitters. Bilkent in Turkey? With their merit scholarship, it was basically free. I was like, “No way this is real.” I mean, I’d always thought good unis had to be expensive, cheap meant sketchy, right? I dove into forums, YouTube videos, and anything I could find. Slowly, it sank in.. quality education didn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. I started wondering why all of us Maldivians were so obsessed with the UK when Europe and Asia had options this good.. NUS, NTU, SNU and KAIST were all big league!

I ran it by my dad. He said it was my call and he’d take the loan if I wanted, but I could hear the weight lift off him when I told him about these cheaper unis. Bilkent caught my eye big time. Fully English-taught, engineering faculty packed with profs from MIT, Harvard, Princeton, Caltech..serious brainiacs. What were they doing in Ankara? Turns out, Bilkent’s engineering was modeled after Carnegie Mellon and Columbia University, with coursework just as tough. Their alumni were popping up in PhD programs at Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Princeton. My friend in Turkey chimed in again, “Bilkent’s in Ankara, I’m at Hacettepe nearby. Me and the few Maldivians can help you out.” That sealed it. I thought things through and accepted Bilkent’s offer. My dad? Relieved doesn’t even cover it.

I knew zilch about Turkey, culture, people, nothing. Never crossed my mind as a place I’d end up. Packed my bags, hopped a flight to Ankara for the fall semester, and landed with zero expectations. First shock, Ankara was not what I pictured. Modern, clean, organized, not some dusty stereotype. The people were way different too. I’d assumed “Turkish” meant Arabic vibes (which seemed to be the general narrative of most Maldivians), but in Ankara, most folks looked Western European. Then I got to Bilkent’s campus, holy molly! Massive, green, with these gorgeous classical buildings and forests everywhere. It was like walking into a movie set.

First day of class..Calculus 101. Mathematics and physical sciences were always easy for me. I enjoyed doing them, I had tons of books, and went through all of them throughout my grade school. I even took Further Maths in A-levels because Mathematics was not really challenging me, so I figured I’d coast. Nope. The syllabus looked basic, but the level? Insane. My classmates were Turkey’s best top scorers from their entrance exams. I felt like I’d been dropped into the deep end with no floaties. Then I met my mentor (Bilkent engineering classes were small and intense, so they always attached a senior faculty member with new students), Asst. Prof. Mehmet Zayed Baykara (a Yale PhD who had a number of prestigious awards to his name and is now the Vice Chair of Engineering at UC Merced, he had previously worked at Columbia and Harvard), and he gave it to me straight “International students always feel behind at first. Our courses match Ivy League standards. Put in the work, you’ll catch up.” That hit me hard. I wasn’t about to drown..I was going to swim.

Classes all day, labs, then straight to the library. I’d grab dinner at 5:30, hit the books, and not leave ‘til 11:30. Every night, no exceptions (well, except for Saturdays). That grind became my life. Bilkent didn’t just teach me engineering, it rewired me. I went in as this kid obsessed with UK prestige, thinking that was the only path. I came out tougher, sharper, with my eyes wide open to the world. It’s hands down one of the best calls I’ve ever made.

The whole experience, settling into Ankara, figuring out Turkey, surviving Bilkent’s intensity changed me in ways I can’t even fully unpack yet. I might write another post about my actual uni life there, the late nights, the friends, the chaos. But for now, I’ll say this: life’s wild. You think you’ve got it all figured out, then it throws you a curveball, and sometimes that curveball’s the best thing that ever happens to you.