Meltem Ozcan '17

1. Please tell us a little about yourself! 

I am originally from Turkey and I moved to the UK when I was 16 to attend United World Colleges (UWC), which is an international movement with a mission to make eduaction a force to unite people, nations, and cultures for peace and a sustainable future. I graduated from Wellesley in 2017 with a major in Psychology and a minor in Korean. My honors thesis at Wellesley explored the impact of growing up in and moving between multiple cultures on friendship initiation behavior. I love learning about other cultures and sharing my own, and I love learning languages. It has been my experience that each new language I learn offers me a new way of viewing the world, and there is nothing quite like the joy of being able to consume and appreciate books in their original form. 

2. Why did you decide to become a Korean Language & Literature minor? How did it shape your experience at Wellesley?

I grew up learning about the close ties and shared history between Turkey and Korea, and I started listening to Korean music about a decade ago. The fact that Korean was offered as a course was actually one of the factors in my decision to attend Wellesley for college! Not only did I want to learn more about the culture and the language, but I also wanted to be able to read books, watch movies, and listen to songs in Korean. Minoring in Korean positively transformed my Wellesley experience--I became a part of a tight-knit group of fellow Korean language students, participated in a number of cultural events, and enjoyed countless conversations at the K-table throughought my time at Wellesley. During the summer of my first year at Wellesley, I studied abroad at Yonsei University as a recipient of the generous Mayling Soong Scholarship and it was an amazing experience to be able to immerse myself in the culture and practice my Korean daily. 

3. What are you doing now? 

After graduating from Wellesley, I worked for two years as the study coordinator of a research project on PTSD at the University of Arizona. I am currently working towards my master's degree in Statistical Science at UC Santa Cruz. 

4. How has your Wellesley experience and your minor influenced your life/career after college? 

I regularly find opportunities to use my Korean skills--from chatting with my Korean friends to reading books in Korean. I recently had the chance to visit Korea with my family and took them on a road trip through Seoul, Gyeongju, Busan, and Jeju!