Student Squared: Zeynep Atabek ’28

Q: How is sophomore year going? 

A: It’s been great. It’s been quite different compared to freshman year, but it’s been fun. I’m liking it so far. 

Q: I know you won the Lip-Sync Battle last year, which got you, Pablo Moreira ’28, Harman Aujla ’28, and Annie Dai ’28 a guaranteed suite in the Greenways. Is it living up to your expectations? 

A: Yes. I think there is sort of a stigma around [the] Greenways that it’s really far away from campus. [But] it’s close to the Science Center [and] close to [Seeley Mudd]. A lot of my classes are there. I think it’s a luxury. We’re very happy to have won the Lip-Sync [Battle]. 

Q: Can you tell me a little bit about where you’re from?

A: I’m from Istanbul, Turkey. I’ve lived there [almost] my whole life. I think it’s a great city to live in [with] great culture. It’s where my family is, so it carries a lot of significance for me. 

Q: If I visited your hometown, where would you take me first?

A: Oh, definitely the Bosphorus. I think if you go to Istanbul, you have to see the Bosphorus. It connects the Asian continent to the European continent. I’d take you on a ferry ride. I think that’s a very Turkish thing to do. 

Q: What is one thing that has surprised you since coming to college? 

A: Honestly, maybe how much I miss home. I thought that I wouldn’t get as homesick as I do. I think freshman year, especially, you’re like, “Oh my god, everything is so new. Everything’s awesome,” which it [still is] sophomore year as well. The homesickness was kind of shocking. 

Q: That sounds so cool. Where do you feel most at home on campus? 

A: Wherever my friends are. I think the community that you build is very important to whether or not you feel like some place is your home. But if we’re speaking [in] a more literal sense, anywhere on central campus from the Science Center to [the] First-Year Quad to my actual dorm. 

Q: You mentioned a lot of your classes are in the Science Center and Seeley Mudd. What are you majoring in? 

A: I’m majoring in math and philosophy, but I am taking some unrelated classes. That’s why I’m in the Science Center. I’m [taking] bio[logy]. And weirdly enough, my philosophy class is also in the Science Center. 

Q: A lot of people say that math and philosophy are similar. Do you find that to be true? 

A: I think that is very true. Some people will say, “Wow, that’s such an odd combo. How did you come up with that?” And then the other 50% will be like “Oh my god, that makes a lot of sense.” I think it makes a lot of sense because they’re both fundamental for thinking and logic. 

Q: What does a typical day in your life look like?

A: I have very early classes. I have two 8 a.m. [classes]. I’m not a morning person. [I] wake up, go to class, get coffee. I’m a big coffee person. Then, Grab-n-Go at like 12:30 [p.m.] every day with my roommate Annie Dai ’28, another class in the afternoon, clubs or extracurriculars, study session [in] Frost or Science Center, and then hanging out with my friends in the suite. 

Q: Sounds like a great schedule. Can you tell me one thing that you cannot go a day without doing?

A: It’s such a cliche answer: I can’t go without coffee. I don’t even drink it for energy. I just really love the taste. So coffee is a huge thing for me. I’m going to get coffee after this. 

Q: Where do you get your coffee from? 

A: We have a coffee machine in our suite. So I make coffee there. We also have a milk frother, so I get to make my own latte. But also [the] Science Center Cafe. I think I’m there nearly every day; I pass by it at least. I’m there in spirit, even if I can’t get it sometimes. 

Q: What extracurriculars are you involved in? 

A: Well, normally I do Mock Trial, but this semester I’m doing five classes, so that’s a little bit more challenging. But mock trial three times a week. I also work at a lab at [the University of Massachusetts, Amherst]. That takes up a chunk of my week. Oh, [and] club tennis or basketball. 

Q: What is your research at UMass about? 

A: It’s about sleep and memory, particularly in younger children. My lab group focuses on preschoolers age[d] two to five, and it’s quite a longitudinal study. It covers almost two years. We put caps and electrodes on their heads and then basically record their sleep. 

Q: That sounds super interesting. What is the best class you’ve taken at Amherst so far? 

A: I think it could be my current [Immanuel] Kant class. It’s “Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason.” Or I took another philosophy class my first semester here. It was “Kant in the 19th Century,” but we did multiple other philosophers, and I think that was really interesting. It’s going to sound like I’m huge on Kant — I’m not. I just like discussing him. It’s very intellectually stimulating and sort of challenging because it’s a difficult book, but I really enjoy [the class] because it’s discussion-based. 

Q: If you were to trade lives with anyone at Amherst for the day, who would you pick and why?

A: It's a cop-out answer, but [President] Michael Elliott. I’d love to just engage with students and do presidential stuff. I feel like a lot of people would say that, but I just want to know. I want to know what the president of the college does. 

Q: If you were a professor at Amherst, what new class would you teach and why?

A: I was going to say an intersection of neuroscience and philosophy, but now I’m kind of leaning more towards evolution. I’m really interested in seeing how we’ve developed psychologically and sociologically as humankind, so I would teach a course on that. 

Q: What’s something you’re looking forward to? 

A: Definitely Thanksgiving. [Some] of my best memories in college so far have been with my friends on Thanksgiving, so I’m really looking forward to Thanksgiving again, and for a break from classes. 

Q: Is there any advice you want to share for a freshman? 

A: Find your community. I think that Amherst has a great group of people, but also finding your own group of friends makes or breaks your college experience. And I know that everyone will eventually find their people.