The candidates we meet in the first interview are usually pretty shy. I get it – it’s easy to get a little anxious when you’re being interviewed by the “National Committee” (a name that makes us sound way scarier than we really are – I promise we’re pretty chill), and no matter how many time we emphasize that the interview really is just an opportunity to get to know each other, most high school students need at least a bit of time before they start to relax. 

Emrah did not need that time. During his first interview, he started talking just about as soon as he joined the Zoom room. He started answering questions we hadn’t even asked yet, questions we didn’t intend to ask, and – at one point – questions he even asked himself. When he noticed that an interviewer had not yet asked him a question, Emrah essentially stopped the interview and invited the Committee member to join in on the conversation. He wanted to make sure that everybody got a chance to contribute. 

Talking to Emrah is a whirlwind; an adrenaline-filled drive in a racecar in which he’s the driver and you’re a passenger holding on and waiting to experience the next turn. Every moment – every new topic – is an opportunity for Emrah to continue to think. Constantly, without stopping, Emrah is rushing, racing with his own thoughts. He’ll drink some juice and think to himself: this juice is so good! How much sugar is there in it? It would be good to know the sugar contents so we can make healthy life choices. Is there a standard way to list ingredients? Maybe there should be an organization to regulate that. Should I start that organization? And so on, until he goes to bed.

Emrah approaches life running towards his goals, not allowing a single moment of unnecessary quiet. He runs to organize poetry nights in Orce Nikolov, to write an article for his self-help blog, to make a schedule for his classes at UWC, to plan out events for UNICEF, and – a few times – to remind me to finish this profile. 

He manages to find all this energy because he has a strong schedule. He wakes up at 5 in the morning to meditate, and he takes time in the evenings to be with his thoughts. To write down his ideas and goals. And that’s the key part: the goals Emrah keeps coming back to. They include organizing youth events (✓), getting into UWC (✓), and – in the future – winning the fight for a better world. 

I’d wish him luck at UWC Dilijan. But Emrah isn’t a fan of “maybes” or “ifs” because he thinks that they leave space for his goals not to be achieved. And if there’s anything I learned, it’s that Emrah has absolutely no intention of letting that happen. 

Bobo, July 2022