John Chandler - Headmaster

GOOD MORNING, EVERYONE, AND WELCOME TO THE OPENING OF ROBERT COLLEGE’S 148TH SCHOOL YEAR.    I AM VERY GLAD TO SEE ALL OF YOU, AND I WISH YOU A HAPPY AND SUCCESSFUL SCHOOL YEAR.

I WANT TO BEGIN BY THANKING ZEYNEP FOR TRANSLATING TODAY.  I WON’T EMBARASS HER BY TELLING ALL THE REASONS I WANTED HER TO HELP ME.  I WILL SIMPLY SAY THAT IT IS AN HONOR TO SHARE THE STAGE WITH HER.

AS ALWAYS, THE RC CAMPUS WAS FURIOUSLY BUSY ALL SUMMER LONG, NOT ONLY WITH A VARIETY OF ACTIVITIES RANGING FROM THE UNIRC CIP, TO A UNIQUE COLLABORATIVE EFFORT BETWEEN RC STUDENTS AND THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, TO THE LARGEST EVER SUMMER CAMP, BUT ALSO WITH THE REGULAR SUMMER WORK THAT PREPARES THE CAMPUS FOR THE START OF THE SCHOOL YEAR.  NO-ONE IS MORE AWARE OF THIS WORK THAN THE RESIDENTIAL STUDENTS, WHO HAVE RETURNED TO REFURBISHED ROOMS AND WONDERFUL NEW FURNITURE, BUT ALL AROUND YOU, YOU WILL BE AWARE OF CLEAN HALLS AND FLOORS, FRESH PAINT AND THE SHINE THAT MARKS THE START OF ANY NEW YEAR.  THAT IS ALL THE RESULT OF THE HARD WORK OF A GREAT MANY PEOPLE.

THOSE OF YOU WHO WERE HERE THIS SUMMER, WHETHER IN THE CAMP, WITH UNIRC OR OTHER CIPS, AS GUIDES FOR NEW STUDENTS, OR IN ANY OTHER CAPACITY, KNOW PERHAPS BETTER THAN OTHER STUDENTS JUST HOW MUCH EFFORT OUR WORKERS MAKE TO IMPROVE LIFE FOR ALL OF US.  YOU ALSO KNOW THAT THEY TAKE GREAT PRIDE IN THEIR WORK AND WE ALL OWE THEM A HUGE DEBT OF GRATITUDE.   THEY ARE AN IMPORTANT PART OF OUR LIVES, AND I HOPE THAT ALL OF YOU UNDERSTAND THAT EACH OF US SHOULD RECOGNIZE AND – ABOVE ALL - THANK THEM.   THEY ARE NOT INVISIBLE.  RATHER THEY ARE AN ESSENTIAL PART OF MAKING OUR RC LIVES BETTER.  IT IS ALWAYS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT A SCHOOL COMMUNITY IS MADE UP GROUPS OF PEOPLE, EACH OF WHICH HAS A SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE THE ENTIRE SYSTEM WORK, AND WITHOUT ANY ONE OF WHICH WE CANNOT FUNCTION.  OUR WORKERS AND STAFF ARE AT THE HEART OF OUR DAILY LIVES.  YOU SHOULD NEVER TAKE THEM FOR GRANTED; RATHER YOU SHOULD REGARD THEM AS A PART OF THE TEAM OF WHICH WE ARE ALL MEMBERS AND TREAT THEM WITH THE RESPECT AND APPRECIATION THAT THEY DESERVE.

THE SPIRIT OF GIVING AND SERVICE TOUCHES OUR LIVES MORE AND MORE EACH YEAR.  I AM VERY PROUD OF THE REALLY WONDERFUL WORK DONE BY CIP VOLUNTEERS IN COMMUNITIES ALL AROUND TURKEY DURING THE SPRING AND SUMMER, AND I WANT TO RECOGNIZE AND THANK THEM ALL.   WHEN YOU BECOME PART OF THE ROBERT COLLEGE COMMUNITY, YOU TAKE ON A SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITY TO SHARE YOUR TALENTS AND YOUR ENERGY TO HELP OTHERS.  NOT ONLY DO YOU LEARN A GREAT DEAL ABOUT YOURSELVES AND OTHERS, BUT YOU ALSO BECOME MODELS OF THE BEST THAT THIS SCHOOL STANDS FOR.  YOUR EFFORTS HAVE HAD A GREAT IMPACT ON THE COMMUNITIES YOU HAVE SERVED.  I HOPE THAT THOSE WHO HAVE PARTICIPATED IN THESE, AS WELL AS ALL THE OTHER CIPS NOT ONLY FEEL GOOD ABOUT WHAT THEY HAVE DONE, BUT WILL ALSO CARRY THE SPIRIT OF GIVING ON INTO THEIR LIVES.

TO OUR NEW STUDENTS, I WANT TO SAY A VERY SPECIAL WELCOME.  WE ARE ALL LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING TO KNOW YOU AND WE WISH YOU A SUCCESSFUL TRANSITION TO ROBERT COLLEGE.  LAST JUNE, IN HIS GRADUATION SPEECH, YİĞİT YORULMAZ, WHO IS NOW AT YALE UNIVERSITY BEGINNING ANOTHER SET OF NEW EXPERIENCES, SPOKE ABOUT HIS FIRST DAYS AT RC, SAYING, “We were possessed by an anxiety unlike any other. Lost in a crowd of unfamiliar faces, packed in the Maze under a late summer sun, we listened to welcoming speeches . . . . Uncertainties about the future filled our minds. We had many questions and no idea where to begin looking for answers. The adventure we were undertaking looked almost impossible.”

HOWEVER, YİĞİT GOES ON TO SAY,  “Soon enough, our lost-state-of-mind that could easily be read from our prep eyes faded away. We started to develop a sense of belonging to our beautiful campus.  . . . . Throughout our five years we added a number of themes to our shared work. We added hard work to survive thousands of forty-minute lessons. We added laughter and tears to mark our memories. We added concerts, plays, musicals, seminars, talent shows to make most of our time at RC. Most importantly, we wove friendship into the core of our symphony.”

TAKE HEART, ALL OF YOU.   EVERY OLDER STUDENT IN THIS ROOM HAS FELT AS YOU DO NOW AND, BY ALL APPEARANCES, THEY HAVE NOT ONLY SURVIVED BUT ARE THRIVING.  YOU WILL, TOO.  YES, YOU WILL HAVE TO WORK HARD, AND YOU WILL HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO THINK AND QUESTION IN NEW WAYS.  I WISH YOU THE JOY OF GROWTH AND DISCOVERY AND I HOPE THAT YOU, LIKE YİĞİT AND LIKE EVERYONE HERE, WILL SOON FEEL A STRONG SENSE OF BELONGING.

AND WHAT IS THIS COMMUNITY TO WHICH YOU WILL BELONG?  IT IS UNLIKE ANY OTHER IN TURKEY, AND LIKE VERY FEW OTHERS IN THE WORLD.  DESCRIBING IT CANNOT BE REDUCED TO JUST A FEW WORDS; YOU HAVE TO EXPERIENCE THE SENSE OF CHALLENGE AND EXPECTATION THAT COMES NOT JUST FROM YOUR TEACHERS BUT FROM EACH OTHER.  YOU WORKED HARD TO GET HERE, BUT YOUR REAL WORK IS ONLY JUST BEGINNING.

LET ME REMIND YOU THAT THIS IS ROBERT COLLEGE’S 148^TH YEAR.   TO UNDERSTAND THE RC OF TODAY, YOU HAVE LOOK BACK INTO ITS HISTORY, AND I URGE YOU TO DO SO.  ITS FOUNDER WAS A MAN NAMED CYRUS HAMLIN, A MAN OF TREMENDOUS INTEGRITY, STRENGTH AND VISION.  HE BELIEVED THAT A SCHOOL SHOULD NOT ONLY PROVIDE A RIGOROUS INTELLECTUAL TRAINING BUT SHOULD ALSO TEACH ITS STUDENTS TO HAVE THE CONFIDENCE , THE CAPACITY, THE DIGNITY AND THE COURAGE TO STAND ON THEIR OWN FEET AS PROUD INDIVIDUALS.  FOR NEARLY 150 YEARS, ROBERT COLLEGE GRADUATES HAVE GONE FORWARD AS LEADERS INTO A WIDE VARIETY OF CALLINGS.  THIS DID NOT HAPPEN JUST BECAUSE THEY WERE STUDENTS HERE.  RATHER, THEY LEARNED HOW TO WORK HARD, HOW TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR OWN ACTIONS, AND HOW TO BECOME CONTRIBUTING MEMBERS OF THEIR SOCIETY.  THIS IS THE TRADITION THAT YOU ARE INHERITING.  YOU WILL STRUGGLE AT TIMES, BUT IF YOU RESPOND TO THE CHALLENGES THAT THIS SCHOOL WILL PLACE BEFORE YOU, YOU WILL GROW TREMENDOUSLY. 

THE YEAR AHEAD OF US WILL BE FILLED WITH ALL THE POSITIVE ENERGY, ENTHUSIASM, CREATIVITY, HUMOR AND HARD WORK THAT IS CHARACTERISTIC OF ROBERT COLLEGE.  THIS YEAR, HOWEVER, I URGE EVERY PERSON IN THIS ROOM TO REMEMBER THAT EACH OF US HAS A DEEP RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT AND PRESERVE THE SPECIAL STRENGTHS THAT MAKE ROBERT COLLEGE TRULY GREAT.  YOU DO THIS BY NEVER FORGETTING THAT EACH OF US IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF A MUCH LARGER WHOLE, AND THAT THAT WHOLENESS IS ONLY ACHIEVED BY THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF ALL OF ITS MEMBERS, REGARDLESS OF HIS OR HER AGE OR ROLE IN THE COMMUNITY.  THERE IS NOT A PERSON IN THIS SCHOOL WHO DOES NOT HAVE A CONTRIBUTION TO MAKE.  I EXPECT YOU NOT ONLY TO MAKE YOUR OWN CONTRIBUTIONS BUT TO BE GRATEFUL FOR – AND TO CELEBRATE – THOSE OF EVERYONE AROUND YOU.

SIMILARLY, LET ME ALSO REMIND YOU THAT WE ALL HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO LOOK OUT FOR THE SPIRITUAL HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF OUR COMMUNITY.  FREQUENTLY, WE HEAR PEOPLE USE THE EXPRESSION “THE RC FAMILY.”    IT IS ONE OF THE TRULY GREAT THINGS ABOUT THIS SCHOOL THAT SO MANY MEMBERS OF ITS COMMUNITY ARE SENSITIVE TO THE NEEDS, CARES AND CONCERNS OF OTHERS.  IT IS ONLY IN THIS WAY THAT WE CAN EXPECT TO HAVE A HEALTHY COMMUNITY, AND IT  IS AS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT OUR HUMAN CONTEXT IS EVERY BIT AS IMPORTANT AS ITS PHYSICAL AND INTELLECTUAL LIFE.   I URGE YOU TO CARE FOR THOSE AROUND YOU, AND TO APPRECIATE THEIR CARE FOR YOU.

LET ME CLOSE BY WISHING YOU THE JOY AND THE REWARD OF BEING INSPIRED BY THE WISDOM, KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE OF THE TALENTED PEOPLE AROUND YOU, AND TO GAIN THE STRENGTH THAT CAN ONLY BE YOURS BY ENTERING INTO SUCH A COMMUNITY OF LEARNING AND THINKING.   HOWEVER, NEVER LOSE SIGHT OF THE IMPORTANCE OF OUR LIVES TOGETHER HERE AS HUMAN BEINGS.  TO DO ANY LESS WOULD BE TO DENY YOURSELF THE BEST THAT THIS SCHOOL AND ITS PEOPLE CAN GIVE YOU, OR THAT YOU CAN GIVE TO IT AND TO THEM.

I WOULD NOW LIKE TO INTRODUCE  GÜLER HANIM TO GIVE HER REMARKS.

Good morning. Welcome back to school.  Gunaydin.  Robert Koleje hos geldiniz.

Four weeks ago when Mr. Chandler asked me to give the teacher’s speech at the opening ceremony this year, I began thinking about what good advice about the coming school year I should give you. I had just gotten back from New York and was enjoying myself in Gelibolu, my home away from home. As I was shelling almonds in the garden, I asked myself if I should remind you for the third time to read the student handbook; as I was walking Gumus along the beach early in the morning, I asked myself if I should stress the need for you to follow the new dress code to the “T” in order to avoid after school detention on Tuesday or Thursday; as I was making jam for all my friends, I thought about telling you how important it is to do your homework and assignments on time in order to develop good work habits.  I knew this adivice would be very important. But then I realized that I would be speaking to you on the first day of school and that most of you would probably be more interested in sharing summer gossip or finding out if you had Mr. Gee for L10 English, Ms. Kapuya for math or Onder Bey for history than in listening to the advice of an about-to-be-retired teacher. Maybe some of you are not even listening to me now since you are trying to read or send a text message. Let’s face it. That’s the reality of student life. So I decided to dispense with the advice giving about what you should be doing in school this year and instead talk briefly about two matters which I hold dearly.

Lise 12 students.  How many of you voted in the referendum yesterday? Raise your hands. How many of you read the proposed changes to the constitution to be voted upon? Raise your hands.  How many of you read and analyzed carefully what famous columnists in different newspapers or listened to what speakers on television who had differing opinions about whether to vote “yes” or “no” had to say? Raise your hands. Now for a final question. How many of you have texted a friend today, read about your favorite soccer team on the internet or listened to music on your Ipod on the way to school? Raise your hands. I ask these questions in order to illustrate what many of you consider really important.

Over my thirty-seven years of teaching at Robert College, I have noticed a profound change in my students’ knowledge of general culture and contemporary political and economic topics.  Now-a-days many of you do not seem to care about what is happening in the world around you, except for anything related to dershane,  getting into university or socializing with each other.. This change has accelerated during the past five or ten years. You are wizards at accessing You-Tube, even though it is forbidden to do so in Turkey.  You can put together in no time a slick, professional-looking Power Point presentation which looks good but is rather shallow intellectually. You can access the most obscure websites blindfolded. But what do you know about current political, cultural and economic topics other than a few general facts and clichéd opinions?  You have the tools to gather information about changing events as they occur, but most of you do not bother to do so.  This point was driven home to me in my English for the Business World class last year. Five years ago when I first taught this elective, the class had lively discussions on a daily basis about unfolding international and national events which affected Turkish businesses and the Turkish economy. We discussed how Hurricane Katrina might affect Turkish economic development and how the competition between Airbus and Boeing could have an impact on Turkish tourism in such depth and with such enthusiasm that I found it very difficult to cover the material in our textbook. In contrast, last year when I tried to get my two business English classes to discuss the Gulf oil spill or the volcanic eruption in Iceland, very few students were able to talk about these two events which were affecting the Turkish economy and tourism in particular. Some of them did not even know there had been an oil spill. However, when they felt a little bored at the beginning of a double lesson, instead of discussing a topic related to business and economics, they wanted to watch the latest video clip by Ibo or Ajdar and laugh a bit or just sit back and passively watch any movie unless it was about economics or business. I have nothing against these two performers and God knows I love movies.  In fact I have several Ibo cassettes which I listen to as I am driving and I regularly watch Dizimax and Moviemax. I am not asking you to stop relaxing and laughing a little. All I am asking of you is a bit of balance.  How much time and effort are needed to listen to the news for ten minutes in the morning, to watch TRT, NTV, CNN, El Jazire in English or BBC for thirty minutes in the evening or to read Cumhuriyet, Milliyet, Sabah or Taraf electronically on your way to school?  Very little! How much will you benefit from such daily activities?  A lot!  Remember.  You are some of the top students in Turkey and will be expected to be future leader.  I hope you will be well-informed ones.

Another change I have sadly noticed is my students’ attitudes towards English. It is becoming more and more difficult to convince them of the importance of learning and using English whenever possible. I regularly have coffee and go to dinner with my 1983 RC students from the last Lise Prep class in the old lise. Unless I speak Turkish with them, they automatically converse in English with me, even on the telephone. Recently, I have found that you would prefer to speak Turkish with me since you know I am able to do so and you say it is more natural to do so since we are in Turkey. You even say it is also easier for you. You miss the point.  It is not a question of national identity or the ease with which you can communicate.  I wish you could have seen me when I attended apartment building meetings in Aksaray during my first year in Istanbul and had to try to communicate about money matters in Turkish .  It was hard but I learned quickly. So, I ask you to take advantage of all the opportunities to use your English, French and German since you will not find a better environment for doing so than at Robert College, unless you go abroad.  However, do not forget Turkish and do all you can to improve your skills in your native language.  From listening to you at flag ceremonies or in the canteen and garden, I have long realized you have much room for improvement.

Ben Turkce biliyorum and istedigim zaman kullanabilirim. Hayatta, iki dili iyi bilmek cok buyuk bir avantaj.  Ucuncu ve dorduncu dili bilmek daha da faydali. Simdi hazirlik ogrencileri icin Turkce konusuyorum. Onunizdeki bes yilda onlarin mumkun oldugunca cok Ingilice kullanmalarinin onemini belirtmek isterim.

In closing, I would like to wish all of you a very successful school year.  I am looking forward to teaching those of you who are my students and getting to know you better if you are not.

Basarilar dilerim.

Dear Friends, Dear Faculty,

During the summer Mr. Chandler sent me an e-mail telling me that I had to write a speech for this opening ceremony. In his e-mail he attached the speeches of the last two Student Council Presidents. As I was reading the previous president, Ersagun`s, speech I saw and remembered how he spoke about not knowing how to speak English when he first came to this school. He said he had a lot to learn. I, on the other hand, was lucky. I did know English and had been exposed to American Culture before; however that was probably my only advantage. Let alone me not knowing a person from the school, I didn`t know anyone who had in any way a connection to the school. This was because where I come from, Alanya, it was very uncommon to send a child to study in Istanbul since money is earned either from agriculture or tourism. I also didn`t know anything about the beautiful city of Istanbul except the fact that we used the airport when we wanted to fly to the States. So basically, other than English, everything was new to me as well. I had a lot to learn just like Ersagun and I believe everyone has a lot to learn here in of the best schools in Turkey.

We, as students of this wonderful institution, should be aware of the opportunities surrounding us. We should force the limits to benefit from everything as much as possible. We should never forget that we are at a point of our lives where everything we do is an investment of our precious time. That`s why we should always do things from which we will in the end profit. This can be to study Math, to meet new people, to watch a new movie or to travel around the world. Every step we take should be taken consciously and never should we stop taking these steps which bring us closer and closer to our goals.

As Robert College students another thing we should be doing is to try to benefit from the school’s network as much as possible. Examples I can give include having lunch with Feyyaz Berker, one of our country’s leading businessmen, or going out to lunch with Mehmet Evyap, who’s in charge of a big family business. My dad wouldn`t be able to arrange such a lunch with those people if he wanted to but we can because we have a very strong connection with them through Robert College and we should, because even sitting and listening to them is a learning experience. The simplest way of trying to create such a network is to come and help at Homecoming. The examples I gave are with RC alumni; however we don`t need to go that far. The person you sit next to in a class or the person you share a room with in the dormitory is also very important. I`m a firm believer in the cliché that we are the future leaders of our nation. We should treat each other and ourselves with the respect we deserve because sooner or later that friend is going to be someone who can help you in his/her area. whether it is business, politics, medicine, arts, or academics.

The last thing I`m going to say might seem irrelevant but it is more important than everything I`ve talked about today: Here, in this beautiful school, we learn a lot about the world and different countries. As we are doing this we should never forget to learn about our own country and the different cultures in it because there is a lot more to it than what we see and experience here in Istanbul at Robert College. This is only one part of our large and complex country and is different from the rest in many ways.  We should never be ignorant of the rest.

Also welcome preps. My advice to you is to ask for help whenever necessary and you`ll catch up on the details as you go on.

Good luck to all this year, especially our class; L12`s and thank you for listening.