Interview with Selcuk Bakac, Our Health Service Student in Combating the Covid Pandemic

Istanbul Gelisim University Faculty of Fine Arts Department of Communication and Design made an interview with asst. Prof. Dr. Çağlayan Hergül, a first-year student of the Gastronomy and Culinary Arts Department, and Paramedic Selçuk Bakaç about being a student and paramedic during the Covid epidemic.

Asst. Prof. Dr. Çağlayan Hergül said:

 

“My first encounter with Selçuk Bakaç, who is older and more experienced than our other students, was during distance education. I was very impressed and respected when I heard that he is a paramedic and that he continued his lessons during the distance education process despite the difficult conditions of his working life. From the beginning to the end of the semester, Bakaç never interrupted the lessons. He participated fully in the lesson both in the ambulance and in the duty centers. On the other hand, he is a traveler himself. In our lessons, he enlightens us about the culture of the many countries he has visited and encourages our young students to go abroad. In addition to this, both his success in classes and his passion for paramedics keep us alive.”

 

The interview proceeded as follows with Hergül's questions:

 

First of all, can we learn about the purpose of choosing Istanbul Gelişim University?

 

When cases exploded in China, I wanted to turn this into an opportunity when it became clear that this epidemic would eventually come to Turkey as well. I took the university entrance exam. I didn't know which university to choose based on the score. If it was outside of Istanbul, I wouldn't have gone anyway. If Istanbul coincided, I would go to the university closest to me and within reach. This was Istanbul Gelişim University and our campus was beautiful. When my scores were announced, the first university I applied to was Istanbul Gelişim University. When the scholarship came out and was accepted, I decided to study here.

 

Why Gastronomy and Culinary Arts and not other departments?

 

Because I started my working life at McDonald's in 1995. I chose this department because my hand is prone to this type of work and to learn what it is like in a more artistic way.

 

How did your interest in art begin?

 

I entered the kindergarten of Bakırköy Psychiatric Hospital in 1979 when I was 7 months old. Because the hospital's management believed in music therapy at that time, classical music was playing throughout the 900-acre hospital. Beethovens, Mozart… Aryas are everything… I had the opportunity to experience this beauty until I was about 13-14 years old. When I started middle school, I met the Simpsons cartoon. At that time, TRT was giving 1. I started drawing the Simpsons without any support. Alone, I was drawing Simpson family pictures on my school bag. I had an unending enthusiasm and interest in painting and music. I didn't stop drawing. However, I studied bass guitar and then learned drums. In short, I am always intertwined with art in a way. That's why I preferred the Faculty of Fine Arts, Gastronomy, and Culinary Arts departments.

 

Growing up on the campus of the Psychiatric Hospital is an interesting experience. Have you ever been in contact with patients?

 

I was educated in the kindergarten inside the hospital until the age of 7. In my primary school period after the age of 7, I was going to Bakırköy Primary School. Since my parents were working at the hospital, I was coming back here and going to the kids club there. The high school I went to was already 500 meters ahead. Therefore, I can say that I grew up in a hospital. The hospital is a completely isolated place. An ordinary citizen can't enter from the outside. I met very interesting people, I am receiving news of the death of some of them. Even today, some people still recognize me when I go. On the other hand, I did not want to work in the health sector. Ibn Khaldun has a saying that “A person's destiny is the geography where he was born”... I think that my destiny is where I was born.

 

In our Art and Design History class, we were dealing with the expressionism movement. At that time, you told me that you saw such pictures on the walls of the Psychiatric Hospital, could you give me some information about it?

 

There is a place where chronic patients, that is, patients whose hospitalization will last a lifetime, are rehabilitated. Agreements were made with educators in many branches, such as social workers, art teachers, and physical education teachers, to have patients engage in activities. They were trying to educate patients in different fields. At that time, some people took pictures. The painters were creating works in an abstract and expressionist style, similar to the paintings we saw in our classes. These works were hung on the walls of the hospital and exhibited. There was some very good work.

 

Well, besides health education, did you receive education in any other field before our university?

 

I am openly studying in the Department of Sociology at Istanbul University. The reason I chose this department was that as a person who grew up in Bakırköy Psychiatric Hospital, I was influenced by the psychiatrists and doctors there. I could not become a doctor, especially since being a psychiatrist required a very high score. That's why I wanted to be trained in researching both humanities and social sciences.