Meet Me Monday: Leyla Ozturk

 

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I have been thinking of the best way to introduce myself for 15 minutes and turns out that I actually don’t know much about myself 😀  

But seriously, my name is Leyla and I am originally from a small town in South Africa. 

I’d like to say that I am a pretty adventurous person, this can be confirmed by the fact that I miraculously found my way to Estonia. I thoroughly enjoy travelling, socialising, trying new things and being active. 

Now that we’ve got the beginning out the way I guess we can proceed to my summarised life story. 

 

Three facts about you?

• Kind of weird, but I listen to podcasts and audiobooks while I work out.
• The moment I start feeling like life is getting dull or boring, I come up with a plan on how I can make things more exciting and figure out my next big move or adventure. 
• I am currently going through a phase of tea obsession which entails a minimum of 4 cups a day. 

 

How did you end up in EBS?

Landing up in Estonia and EBS was quite a crazy and spontaneous decision. After high school, I moved to the South of Spain to begin my Bachelor’s programme there and ended up not really liking the university. I met a couple of Estonians along the way and heard about EBS through one of them, he only had good things to say about the university. My brother moved to Estonia and he as well had only great things to say about the country. So I decided to shoot my shot and apply for a bachelor’s programme here. And the rest is history …

 

You did an exchange semester, where did you go and what was the best thing about it?

During my exchange semester, I knew I needed a break from the cold, so I set my next adventure somewhere warm and cultural. This brought me to the cradle of Western Civilisation and the birthplace of democracy, drumroll please:

You are correct, Greece was the next adventure. 

The best part about this beautiful country was definitely its surreal islands and mouth-watering food. 

 

What do you like to do in your free time?

In my free time, I really enjoy spending time with my friends, going out in the nature and doing online courses on things I can see myself doing in the future. Overall, if there is anything interesting happening, tell me the time and place and I’ll be there.

 

Tell us about your high school in South Africa?

I went to Eunice High School, which is an all-girls high school in Bloemfontein (South Africa). Our brother school ‘Grey College’, was just across the road from us which was pretty cool as we had many social events and school dances together. 

At the school there were so-called “day girls” who were girls that lived in the same city as the school and then there were the “boarders” who basically lived in the hostel on the school premises. I was a boarder from grade 8-12 as my home town was an hour and a half away from the school. It was an awesome experience! I made lifelong friends in boarding school and definitely made many unforgettable memories that I could talk about for hours.

 

What is the weirdest thing you have noticed about Estonia and what has been your impression of the food here?

I find it so cute how Estonian families go out into the forest and pick berries/mushrooms together. I really love that. 

Estonian food is quite nice and simple. I have definitely started liking potatoes a lot more than I did before I moved here. One thing I still cannot wrap my head around though is the hype around dill and hapukoor. I just don’t get it 😀 

 

Your biggest dream?

One of my biggest dreams is definitely to become a digital nomad! I would love the freedom to work from anywhere, anytime.