RC Traditions, and How They Help Keep The School Spirit Alive
Every community has traditions that support the community spirit. These traditions not only create a common sense of living, but they also contribute to the unspoken rules of that community. With all its constituents, the repetitive actions and behaviours help communities to foster a sense of belonging.
When it comes to the traditions of RC students, they can vary from annual events to daily life routines, and all of these traditions are the building blocks of our community, ranging from the way we make friends to the way we handle our academic work.
The essential traditions are born out of necessity, and none is more crucial than "otostop" (hitchhiking). Since the notoriously steep stairs to Ulus seem "impossible to climb after a long day at school," according to the 11th grader Yaprak, "otostop" becomes a communal solution. Even though it might take some time to find a car, when we find someone, it is a dedicated moment of cross-grade bonding. If they are younger, they seek advice about clubs and exams, or if they are upper grader, you can ask for advice, and the short voyage up the ulus gate transforms into a peer counseling session.
Another interaction between different grades is asking for a TI calculator when your battery has died. It has become a tradition, since everybody, at least once in their RC journey, either forgets their TI before an important exam or realizes that their calculator is not working in the morning. Since students of the same grade often share simultaneous classes, only other grades can provide assistance. And once you find your TI peer, TI bonds between you form, which will be visited especially during the exam weeks.
Köprü, where your food is delivered to you after you waited for it so starvingly, is a place so hard to describe to couriers and even harder to wait for them. While waiting there, you not only chat with those also waiting with you, but you establish a waiting ritual there, building the local history of Köprü.
Doing your school projects at Kahve Dünyası after school is another tradition that makes the school projects more fun since it provides a way to combine leisure with a seemingly boring and mundane task. 11th grader Lila says that her best group projects were the ones done at Kahve Dünyası. It eliminates the rigorous environment of school and frees our minds from the grades, and lets us focus on just the process of creating that project.
Looking for a place in the commons is another tradition, as it is the center for social life. While this is a quest that takes dedication over time, it becomes more important, since it seems like the place becomes more crowded every passing day. And rumor has it that if you keep close relationships with some seniors, you can inherit their designated spot.
Ultimately, all of these traditions are components of our social lives, but they also help our community to become an autonomous system. Stemming from different needs, most of these traditions convert structural or practical obstacles into social opportunities. They build new friendships, solve daily problems, and help to sustain the culture of Robert College, considering most of these actions resonate with every student. The solutions we create are indications of our presence in a tight-knit community, where we learn how to become adaptive and active community members.
