Hayaller ve Hedefler : Dreams and Aspirations of Turkish students in 1996
A nostalgic ride back to 30 years ago, to redefine dreams in a Turkish campus. Special thanks to Milliyet newspaper
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Nilima Jahan & The Sea Drop Mag Team
May 20, 2026 | Issue 1 | The Sea Drop Mag Specials
"All my hope is in the youth." ~ Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
”I dreamed; I detected the obstacles before my dream. When I removed the obstacles, my dream came true.” ~ Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
What is dream ? Is it just your brain running electrical simulations during your sleep or is there something far deeper than just meets the eye ? In this philosophical understanding, dreams are something you aspire to be. Dreams are your deepest desires that keeps playing in your head. Actual dreams are the one that doesn't let you sleep peacefully, instead it makes you work hard to fulfill your goals and aspirations.
Milliyet newspaper, October 21, 1996
We also ask at the same time, what is the closest thing to time travel ? Archival documents, newspapers, videos and images are the closest things we can achieve to real life time travel. 30 years ago, a group of brilliant Turkish students redefined the meaning of 'dream' in their way. It might be hard to believe that 1996 was 30 years ago from today. Today, we time travel back to 1996 in Turkey, to an university campus.
In October 1996, the headlines of Milliyet, "Boğaz'ın süperleri" (The supers of Boğaziçi) introduced the Turkish nation to a group of 'super brains' : 15-16 years old students walking the halls of Boğaziçi University with eyes fixed firmly on the horizon. They spoke of curing global diseases and entering the halls of power, their 'hayaller ve hedefler' (dreams and aspirations) as sharp and ambitious as the scores that brought them there.
Philosophers have long argued that our dreams are the blueprints of our character; as Eleanor Roosevelt once noted, "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." But what happens when the blueprint meets the building site of the real world ? Nearly 30 years later, we revisit those youthful promises — now recorded as an old relic of the past. By tracing the paths of students like Başak Akçam, we explore the evolution of ambition — moving from the abstract 'super brain' label of the 1990s to the complex, non-linear realities of adulthood. This is not just a story of success, but a reflection on how our dreams shift, persist, and redefine us over the span of three decades.
Caption : "The young minds of Boğaziçi University have managed to establish communication with their classmates who are a few years older than them, but they still take a special pleasure in getting together and chatting frequently with their own peers". Photo courtesy : Milliyet
Başak Akçam and part of the newspaper report
According to the newspaper, these super-brilliant students are only 15–16 years old, but they entered Boğaziçi University with the highest scores. They are described as 'super brains'.
"Some want to find a cure for AIDS, while others dream of returning to the region where they were born and raised to work as teachers."
In the interview, Başak Akçam stated that she believes intelligence is genetic. "My sister is 19 years old. She is graduating from university this year", she added.
It must be remembered that these students got admitted into the university at 15-16, lower than the age of an average student who gets admitted into Turkish universities. All these highlights that they are the prodigies of that year.
The newspaper also reported : "While their peers are just dreaming of university while still in high school, they are at the university in Turkey that accepts students with the highest scores. These young people, with an average age of 15-16, are moving towards their goals with confident steps. These 'super brains,' who came to Boğaziçi University from all over Turkey and mostly graduated from state high schools, look to the future with hope. Some faced various difficulties because they lacked the opportunity to study, while others did so because their families did not want them to start school at a very young age. These super youth, who started primary school at the ages of 5-6, are studying in various preparatory classes at Boğaziçi University.
Muhammet Ali Baş (16), a graduate of Manisa Alaşehir High School and an International Relations student, states that he ranked 16th in Turkey in the Turkish-Social score, 23rd in the Social score, and 61st in the Turkish-Mathematics score. Baş, who states that he originally aimed to be in the top ten, wants to enter politics.
Başak Akçam (16), who graduated from TED Karabük College, started primary school at the age of five. Akçam, who did not take preparatory classes at the college, states that she won a spot in Management Information Systems and wants to be a politician.
Mustafa Köksal (16), who graduated from Trabzon Science High School and is a Molecular Biology and Genetics Engineering student, says that genetic engineering is not developed in Turkey. Köksal says, 'I want to make my mark on the world by finding solutions to diseases for which there is no cure, such as cancer and AIDS.'
15-year-old Physics Department student İlhan Demir, says he wants to teach in Adıyaman, where he was born and raised, after finishing school. Demir, who says the people in Adıyaman are in need of education, says, "They need me."
Zehra Betül Farsakoğlu (16), a graduate of Bakırköy Imam Hatip High School and an International Relations student, wants to go to Malaysia or Tunisia to study Islam after completing her master's degree.
Hümeyra Melikoğlu (16), a high school classmate of Farsakoğlu, is a History student. Melikoğlu aims to become an authority in the field of history. "
"Hümeyra Melikoğlu and Zehra Betül Farsakoğlu are classmates from Bakırköy Imam Hatip High School. Hümeyra’s (top left) goal is to become a famous historian. Betül plans to study for a long time. İlhan Demir (to the side), one of the super-intelligent youths studying at Boğaziçi University, wants to return to his hometown of Adıyaman one day to work as a teacher."
Now, while we couldn't track down the whereabouts of all these students today, we did manage to find Başak Akçam. While she didn't become a politician, she has built a remarkably successful career as a product management director. Her journey brings us full circle to the promises she made to herself 30 years ago. We are optimistic that her peers from that feature are equally successful in their own right.
Yet, one aspect we noticed is that even Akçam couldn't fulfill every desire she once harbored; the path to politics was left behind, even amidst her professional triumphs. This brings us to the nuanced, non-linear reality of life: not every dream is meant to be realized. Some remain as mere wishes, while others are inevitably reshaped or set aside under the weight of new responsibilities. Ultimately, we realize that life rarely follows the exact blueprint we draft in our youth. Yet, finding success and prosperity is perhaps the highest way to honor the very dreams that once kept us moving forward. This remains true for students even today; they dream of their futures with the same fervor and hope that those students carried 30 years ago.
At the end of the day, probably the biggest happiness for these students back then was to get accepted into Turkey's most prestigious university, become their country's top ranked students and get featured into a giant newspaper. Today, their interviews and pictures remain as an old relic of time, a pure nostalgia that might evoke feelings of happiness and simpler times, even for those who weren't there.
Just like them, our magazine's first artist, Meryem Kurtdere is giving her exams to get accepted into the university of her liking. She also have ambitions and dreams, much similar to these students 30 years back. By the end of this story, we respect her dedication and hard work, and wish her luck on her journey to success.
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