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Jockey Club Humanity Hall (Hall 1) Scholarships

Miss CAKIN, Ezgi

Faith in Coincidence

My name is Ezgi Cakin, a third-year Turkish student living on campus studying Energy Science and Engineering and minoring in computing. I was nineteen years old when I came to Hong Kong by myself for university and I cannot pay back the help of the driving force living in halls provided for me. I learned to believe in the importance of coincidences. There are so many organized events that push you to meet with new people and take you out of your comfort zone. Perspectives have the ability to change ones’ view on any kind of subject. I believe learning how to look at life, other people, their opinions and justice by a positive-mind has been my biggest achievement in university.

Creating an environment to support others also means supporting yourself. Being sincere with people drives them to be sincere with you. Wanting other people’s comfort and happiness brings comfort to your own soul. I think what I can offer the residents the most is myself, my sincerity and support, which are all what I got back in return. Giving a shoulder when someone needs it, saying ‘good morning’ to the people in the elevator in the morning, greeting the security when I come back to halls in the evening, inviting my floormates whenever I make some exotic Turkish food… A cosy homelike environment that comes after getting close with other residents is the result of all those little coincidences that we live on campus. Therefore, I always tried to join hall activities like hiking, dessert nights, cultural night etc.

People with different backgrounds have different opinions depending on the varying perceptions of reality. Perhaps, this is the reason why my favourite hall activity was to join the cultural nights including the Chinese, Korean, Indonesian and South Asian nights. Apart from the excuse of having good food and the exotic vibe these nights cater along, they were preparing a space for meeting with new people. Sometimes, it can be hard to break up the bond formed between people from the same culture and join the friendship cycle with them. Therefore, as much as I enjoyed these nights, I wanted other people to enjoy as well and prepared a small-scale version of it as Turkish Night, which ended up with more than thirty people enjoying it as well.

Apart from cultural nights, I joined other activities like hiking and movie night, cooked for the dessert night and organized the traditional beer night… I also tried to join activities that I was lacking the confidence to do so as well, like going for the auditions for the swimming team or the singing contest. Not just because I wanted to be a part of it but also to challenge myself to learn and improve in the areas that I was lacking. After all, trying and encouraging other people to try something new as well, is the spice we all lack in this life.

Forming friendships and memories matter the most when someone looks back in time. Contributions to someone’s life spring up with little personal touches to other peoples’ lives. This hall and my life in CityU in general contributed a lot to my growing personality. Every person I met on this journey left some kind of mark in my life and I hope I have been able to leave marks on other residents’ lives as well as a mark on their soul. To be honest, I do not know exactly how my achievements and qualities can lead to contributions to hall or my floor. All I know is I am willing to spend the time and effort to make memories with these lovely people. Whether this is having a cup of tea late at night, helping their math homework, sharing what I have cooked for that day or holding hands while trying to finish up a hike. I am here. I am present in this hall with my whole identity and would like to be a part of other humanians’ lives.

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