Yusuf Tırıçoğlu is a bit of an analogue person in a digital world. “I like snail-mailing, postcrossing, city-guiding, travelling and swimming”, says the AEGEE-Istanbul member. After all, it’s the personal contact that counts for him most. At the upcoming Agora in Bucharest Yusuf will run for the Juridical Commission twice: the first time to fill the vacant place in the current term and the second time for a place for the next term.
Golden Times: Where would you be now if you hadn’t joined AEGEE?
Yusuf Tırıçoğlu: I guess I still would be practicing law at the same place but with a narrow point of view. AEGEE widened my world-view.
GT: How did you join AEGEE exactly? How did you find out about it?
Yusuf: I found a Summer University advertisement on Facebook. Somehow it caught my eye and I read everything about it on that day. Some days later I contacted AEGEE-İstanbul and attended an SU promotion meeting. My membership started at the following meeting and my story started on that Travel Summer University in Iasi-Chisinau-Odessa.
GT: How long did it take you from the first moment until you signed the membership form and joined AEGEE?
Yusuf: Let’s say only some weeks. I became member on the second meeting I attended.
GT: What’s the typical drink and food you bring to European Nights?
Yusuf (smiles): Turkish delight – which is me.
GT: At an AEGEE party where will we find you? On the dancefloor? Talking at the bar?
Yusuf: Let’s say both, it depends on the music.
GT: What was your first position in the local board?
Yusuf: I have never taken a position in the local board officially but I was always supporting them.
GT: What was your favourite event as organiser – and why is it your favourite?
Yusuf: I was the main organizer of a thematic event called “Run Aegeean Run Vol.II” from 8th to 13th of November 2017 in İstanbul. We hosted 52 participants in total and 10 of them were my friends whom I just met a few months before at the SU where everything had started for me. It was a challenge because I experienced lots of things which I hadn’t had before. Taking responsibility for so many people was not easy to do with three hours of sleeps per day. That event developed my soft skills and I managed to keep them fresh on the following events I took part as organizer or participant. It is my favourite because my adequacy was proven after the event and I realized my capacity. Since then I always go further.
GT: What was your first Agora and how did you feel there? Happy, excited, overwhelmed, lost?
Yusuf: My first Agora was in Kraków in 2018. I can freely say that I was enlightened there. I realized that AEGEEans are doing amazing things. Although an Agora is a general meeting, I felt so special there. It was so hopeful to see the passionate unity of youth spirit for me.
GT: Have you ever hitchhiked to an AEGEE event?
Yusuf: No, I haven’t. I guess it is mostly because I am not into hitchhiking. The second reason is our country’s location – I suppose it is not something popular among Turkish members.
GT: In a typology of members there are the three aspects fun member, career member and idealist – to which percentage are you which of these aspects?
Yusuf: Well I think I would give 20% to fun and 40% for each career and idealist aspects. Surely being an AEGEEan is super fun, but it has never been the most tempting side for me. I value the long-term gains more than the daily ones.
GT: What other hobbies do you have aside from AEGEE?
Yusuf: Snail-mailing, postcrossing, city-guiding, travelling and swimming.
GT: Did you consider joining a political party or maybe want to do it later?
Yusuf: I have always been political, but I never considered joining a political party.
GT: What do you study – and why?
Yusuf: I have a Bachelor degree on law and I am currently studying my Master on public law. I studied law because it is the basis of all social sciences. Law helps to understand everything about life. It is mainly divided in two parts: civil law and public law. I have cases mostly on civil law thus I am improving myself by practicing. I chose to do a Master on public law, because it’s the other part which I don’t have enough chances to learn in practice. The other reason is that I recently started to work on data privacy and its doctrine is more related to public law rather than civil law. So probably I will do a thesis about it.
GT: What’s your dream job?
Yusuf: Practicing law on an international level.
GT: What’s the favourite city or place on this planet you ever visited?
Yusuf: Amsterdam!
GT: And where would you really like to go?
Yusuf: I would love to visit Italy. I always wanted to go but never had a chance to see it so far.
GT: What’s your biggest frustration in AEGEE?
Yusuf: I couldn’t drink anything at the European Night of the Agora which I was organizer of.
GT: Please complete the sentence: “AEGEE is for me…”
Yusuf: AEGEE is my only addiction.
GT: How would you describe yourself in a few keywords?
Yusuf: Calm, sane and trustworthy.
