2006Zeytinburnu, Istanbul, Türkiye
Primary School — Istanbul
Grew up and went to primary school in Zeytinburnu, Istanbul. As Lamartine put it: if I had to look at the world one last time, I'd want to do it from Istanbul.
De mensen, plekken en projecten die me hier gebracht hebben.
Came into the world in the baklava capital of Türkiye. Maybe that's why my two favorite things in life are eating food and cooking it.
Grew up and went to primary school in Zeytinburnu, Istanbul. As Lamartine put it: if I had to look at the world one last time, I'd want to do it from Istanbul.
Studied at one of Türkiye's most prestigious schools. The discipline, leadership and resilience it drilled into me still stick with me today — strategic thinking, teamwork, and staying calm under pressure.
The military school closed for political reasons, so I pivoted and enrolled in Law at Selçuk University. Kept writing and creating — co-founded a culture, art and literature magazine called Kiremit, where I was editor-in-chief.
A turning point. Spent a year studying International European Law at the University of Opole, chasing new cultures and new adventures.
Instead of going home to finish my law degree, I made a radical decision and stayed in Europe — moving to Belgium. First mission: learn Dutch. Earned my B2 certificate.
Worked as an opvoeder and campus manager at Internaat Lucerna while improving my Dutch. Helped kids with their personal development — and they helped me with my language. Also volunteered with VZW Jet supporting youth integration and cultural events.
Enrolled in the Programming graduaat at Thomas More in Antwerp and graduated in two years. This is where the code bug bit.
Despite a packed school-and-work schedule, a classmate and I started freelancing under Codeaway (codeaway.be) — building web apps for small businesses and schools. Sharpened everything from full-stack dev to client communication and shipping scalable solutions.
After the graduaat, I did a schakeljaar and completed my final year at Thomas More, graduating in the ICT / software development track — capping it off with my internship at Randstad Digital.