December 10, 2007

Lesson Eleven: Basketball opens many doors

Although academic work is not my favorite aspect of studying abroad, playing basketball provided an outlet for me to discover more about the life of a Turkish athlete; I completed a case study of Bilkent’s women’s basketball team as a final project for my study abroad program. Through interviews with teammates and coaches I learned interesting details about the relationship between Turkish university communities and athletic teams. In a paper far longer than anything you want to read, I argued the lack of interest by Turkish university communities is due in part to the recent phenomenon of publicly accessible sports in Turkey, and only with time will school spirit manifest in support of athletic teams.