ÇEVRE HIGHLIGHTS - 29. SAYI

41 OCAK 2026 Saniye BENCİK KANGAL How did you decide to become an academic? What influenced this decision? It happened like this: I always wanted to be a lecturer at a university. In fact, I wanted to be a teacher. Not just a university lecturer—even as a child I was like that. I had a bear, a dog, a rabbit, and a doll. I would line them up, stand in front of them, and constantly teach them lessons. I remember it very clearly—I was teaching them geography, showing them maps and so on. I really loved explaining and sharing. I also admired my professors greatly when I was at university. I said to myself, “I don’t want to leave this place.” And that’s when my academic journey truly began. My admiration for my professors combined with my inner passion for teaching and explaining, and that’s how I became an academic. But it wasn’t easy. It doesn’t happen just by deciding to be one. For example, when I first applied for a research assistant position, I wasn’t accepted. Then I applied again, and again… What’s important here is knowing what you want and not giving up. Thank you. What influenced you most in choosing the field of child development? I always loved being with children, and I’ve always been very good at communicating with them. When people around me noticed this, they said, “You’re great with children—you should do something related to them. Look, there’s a department called Child Development; it’s perfect for you!” We also had a close family friend who said, “You should choose this department next year; you’ll be very successful.” Sometimes outside observations really act as a mirror for us. I thought, “Why not?” But my preferences were actually more focused on psychology. I also had strong language skills, and when you speak well, people often steer you toward law, saying, “You should be a lawyer—you speak well.” However, that comment from our family friend was very decisive for me, and I chose the Department of Child Development. Do you think being successful in life is more important than grades? Why? I think that rather than grades, loving learning, choosing lifelong learning, is very important. Curiosity is essential—being curious about something, researching it, and then becoming curious about something else as a result of that research. Choosing to be a lifelong learner is, in my opinion, more important than grades or academic success. And this may sound a bit classic, but reading—loving to read, researching through reading—is also crucial. Thank you. What would you recommend to high school students so they can get to know themselves better? There are somany exams. You’re constantly preparing for exams and solving tests. But there is a life beyond that. I would recommend creating space to try the things you enjoy, the things that spark your curiosity. You need to experiment. At that age, it’s important not to get lost only among exams, tests, and homework. Friendships are very valuable during this period, so you should also make room for spending time with friends. In your opinion, what are the issues that adolescents struggle with the most? Considering our country’s context, the biggest challenge is the exam system. It’s truly very difficult. You have to study constantly, do homework constantly, solve tests constantly. There should be spaces independent of exams that allow you to get to know yourselves. But as adolescents, you are under a great deal of stress, and this stress mainly comes from exams. When stress becomes overwhelming, it negatively affects your development. So the first major challenge is exams, and the second, I think, is parents—because the characteristics of adolescence are not fully understood, and as a result, they may have difficulty understanding you. When the identity of “Akademisyen Anne” emerged, what did it add to you? I’ve always loved sharing things. I used to have a blog back in the day—like a personal webpage. There, I shared the books I read, the crafts I made, the places I visited. Then Instagram emerged, and I moved my content there, continuing to share the books I read. Then I became a mother. After becoming a mother, I started reading blogs. I would look at articles, but they mostly contained numerical data and lacked emotions. I thought I could write something by sharing my experiences along with my knowledge. That’s when I changed the name of my page to Akademisyen Anne. It changed after I became a mother. I began sharing content by blending my own motherhood experiences with my academic knowledge. Thank you. How do you evaluate the impact of social media on young people? Adolescence is the period when you form your identity—whether you’re aware of it or not. The people you follow influence the foundations of your personality. You may have heard the saying, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” This is scientifically true. But now we’re not only influenced by the five people we physically spend time with; the people we follow online have been added to that. We often see the people we follow more than the friends we spend time with in person. As a result, what they are interested in shapes what we become interested in. Who we follow is very important. We should avoid following negative content. Thank you. How should high school students who want to pursue an academic career start preparing themselves now? Do you knowwhat being an academic is like? It’s a fieldwhere you constantly have to read, study, and research. If you enjoy reading and researching, if you’re a curious person, and if you have a high level of resilience against difficulties—because it’s not just about reading and writing; it’s also a highly competitive field—then you should first choose the field you want to study at university and then work deeply in that field to take your first steps toward an academic career. What would you advise young people to cope with anxiety about the future? This is certainly very difficult, and the level of future anxiety is very important. If it’s at a level you can’t cope with—if it affects your exam performance, if anxiety prevents you from concentrating on exams—then I would recommend seeking professional support. Apart from that, I advise young people to try to create space for themselves in life in order to cope with future anxiety. Thank you. What is the most important message you would like to give high school students about life? We tend to think that life is always rosy and full of beautiful successes. But that’s not how life is! In life, you fall and you get back up. What’s important is not never falling, but getting back up after you fall. We will always fall; there will always be setbacks. One day, we’ll get a low grade on an exam. So what do we do? There’s no stepping aside and saying, “I can’t do this.” When we fall, we get up, sit down, and study. What is our weakness? We think, “I can do better next time.”