Though Not Initially Easy, a New Path Led to Unexpected Experiences

By Chala Civan

Editor’s Note: The Delphian has an annual tradition of publishing first-person essays by senior staff members so they can talk about what their experiences were like leading the school newspaper, as well as their time as Adelphi students. Here the editor-in-chief, features editor and social media  editor all share their thoughts. They will be missed around here!

Back in 2021, I had exactly 15 hours to pack my stuff before I flew to New York and took enough of my 19 years to keep with me, at least for the next three months. I knew I was leaving soon for college, so I was trying to spend as much time as I could with my friends rather than packing up. While I was in our usual spot with my friends, my mom called me to come back home and said I would have a flight in the morning. So I left my friends, rushed back home and threw all my stuff around to decide what to carry with me. After an all-nighter, I made it to my flight, slept and arrived in New York during the hottest time of the year.

I enjoyed coming back to New York in the August heat waves since I associated the heat with my early times at Adelphi; seeing my friends for the first time after a long summer break, getting jet lag for the first couple of weeks and, waking up at 6 am, planning my new routines according to my classes and my friends' classes, and having the feeling that everything was getting better every other semester.

However, coming here to college was not the easiest thing for me.

In Turkey, we take a national university exam at the end of high school. During my senior year, I studied day and night for my dream school, but deep down, I knew I probably wouldn't make it. Even before receiving my results, I had already started preparing to take the exam again the following year. While my friends moved on to college, I accepted I'd be taking a gap year. I felt like a disappointment to my family, teachers, friends and especially myself. That summer, I didn't enjoy my prom or feel like I deserved to walk the stage at graduation. By the time I was a few months into studying again, I was completely burnt out.

Around that time, my dad planned a trip to Florida to visit my cousin and invited me to come along on the condition that I bring my books. On Oct. 8, 2020, we flew to Miami and road-tripped to Orlando, visiting small towns along the way. The change of environment helped ease my stress, but what shifted my mindset was being immersed in a different language and culture.

I didn't have to explain why I chose not to start college that year even though I had a chance to get into schools many dreamt of or assigned myself with extra responsibility without knowing if I would do better this time. Yet, I did better than I could realistically dream of. For the first time, I started thinking about a new path; one that wasn't dictated by a single test score. My cousin encouraged me to apply to schools in the US, and when I returned home, I quietly started researching international education agencies.

The first few agencies told me to wait another year due to Covid-related delays, but I eventually found one in İzmir. They supported my decision to apply to Adelphi in New York. I was 12 years old on my first time in New York and I couldn't even believe that I was there. It took me a trip back home to process my time in New York. 

I got accepted with a scholarship three weeks before my second exam. When my parents hesitated, I made a bold offer: if they let me go, I'd take them to Florida for their summer vacations and they could always come and stay with me whenever they got bored. They said yes.

Chala Civan in April 2024 with Adelphi's signature cherry blossom trees.

This May, I will be graduating with the degree my parents saw as a fit for me: psychology with a twist I truly enjoyed studying and practicing with The Delphian; communications. In my second year I noticed that I enjoy sharing my experiences and telling stories so I decided to add communications as my second major. In my third year, Malika Burieva ‘24 suggested that I should join The Delphian and take over social media. Considering that for the majority of us, both the readers and staff of this school newspaper, social media is the most popular and consumed media and using Instagram was a great tool for us to notify our readers about our issues and run polls to ask their opinions. With The Delphian I had a chance to practice journalism and be active in the Adelphi community. Even today, one of my biggest regrets is not joining The Delphian earlier.

From Adelphi's 8th Women's Leadership Conference in March when Civan had a chance to cover the event for the University's social media team.

With today's economy, very probably I won't be able to keep my promise for this summer, but at least my mother will be checking this article in New York while she is staying with me for a couple of weeks and, very likely, my dad will be spending New Year's here too. So it seems like the agreement worked!