I was a cute kid when I was little. I used to read and draw all the time, and talk to myself. I still talk to myself. I used to be hilarious. I was also a nerd in school. I loved school. I taught myself html when I was 11, and I've had a website ever since.
I started piano when I was 3.5; however, by middle school I was pretty fed up with it and quit. I started again, three years later, when I was fifteen, and am still taking lessons. I was also in choir all through middle school up until the present. I aspire to always be in choir.
Last year I graduated from MIT (double majored in chemical-biological engineering and music, with a minor in biology). Soon I will begin work as a chemical engineer in the oil industry.
I'm really bad at lying, so if I say something, it's usually genuine. I apologize too much. I'm a pretty mild-tempered person. I'd say that I'm empathic. For me, a debate is more about understanding both sides rather than having a winner or a loser. I understand where people are coming from, but I am not easily swayed from my values. I am an introvert.
I obsess over various topics and hobbies from time to time. I have a habit of trying to do every task in one sitting, and it's something I'm trying to get rid of -- for example, once I start updating my website, I don't budge from the computer for several days until it's done! I always have several ideas for big projects floating around in my head.
It's always hard for me to describe my musical interests. My favorite composer is Johann Sebastian Bach. He was a genius, but also a hardworker. Besides that, I like early music (Dowland, Josquin, Byrd, Dufay), some Turkish pop/rock (Vega, Mor ve Ötesi, Şebnem Ferah, Teoman), some electronic music (various; Boards of Canada, Lucier, Lansky, Fennesz), Astor Piazzolla, Steve Reich, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nine Inch Nails. Recently I've been into modern string quartet music. Besides that, I grab individual songs from here and there; they range anywhere from Tuvan throat singing to Britney Spears. Here is a list of my favorite music CDs of all time (and also favorite books).
My Turkish culture is very important to me. I still miss Turkey a lot and consider it my home. When I have kids, I will give them Turkish names that sound good to the foreign ear. I will also make sure that they're fluent in both English and Turkish. I'm aware that this will be difficult to do no matter where I'm living.
My life has been well-documented, for the most part, ever since I learned how to write. I'm always keeping several journals at a time; they all serve different purposes. Most of them are private. I make sure that I write in both English and Turkish. Each journal is bound to strict rules: I don't write things that are irrelevant to that journal's topic, I must follow the same template within the journal and use the same kind of pen, and I stick to one language only. Sometimes I even number the pages and keep a table of contents. As a result, each journal has a different flavor and shows my life from different perspectives. I have no idea what to do with them when I die.
This page will be updated as I go through life.
