Welcome Mr. Ulhaq!
This year, Robert College welcomes a new science teacher, Mr. Muhammed Ulhaq. He brings not only his unique teaching style to RC, but also diverse life experiences and an insightful perspective shaped by them.
Mr. Ulhaq is originally from Pakistan, but he was born and raised in the UK. His name also has a very interesting story. In the interview, he said that his first name was, in fact, Muhammed. This is because when his mother moved to the UK, her mentor's last wish was to name her child as Muhammed. His dad, however, wanted to name him Habib. Then Mr. Ulhaq started going by the name Habib. Thus, everyone now calls him Habib. The name Habib also has a very good meaning in Arabic: it means beloved, one who is loved.
When he was asked why he came to İstanbul, he said that he had always wanted to live in a place where cultures met. And since Istanbul is known for its unique culture and it is also the bridge between Asia and Europe, when opportunity came to him he couldn't say no. As a fun fact, he had old journals in which he wrote about how much he wanted to live in a city like Istanbul. He is not so sure what he loves the most about Istanbul, he said he came here with a sort of fantasy of living in a place of culture. He thinks there is some time before he finds out what he really loves about Istanbul.
He started his teaching career in China 8 years ago and even met his wife there, who started to work as a teacher in RC as well. He and Ms. Flansburg ended up in the same school, and they met on the first day while meeting all the other teachers. The community was very welcoming and Ms. Flansburg was one of the people who invited Mr. Ulhaq out. As they got to know each other, they got along very well.
Though they had some very frustrating times during the 3 years of covid quarantine, Mr. Ulhaq says he truly enjoyed his time in China and made amazing friends.
While teaching in China, he had a Turkish student named Arda, which he mentions was "one of the smartest kids that he taught." "When I came here, I said that I'm coming into a school full of Ardas," says Mr. Ulhaq, and he was pleasantly surprised after coming to Robert College, seeing that the students were in fact like Arda.
Since he lived there until he came to Turkey, he knows some Mandarin, enough to find directions or have a basic conversation. Additionally, he speaks Urdu, English, and Punjabi, natively. He found China to be very convenient and high-tech, because there, people were able to pay for everything using their phones, even to the street vendors, without needing a wallet.
Mr. Ulhaq cites several reasons for choosing to become a teacher, one of them being his dissatisfaction with previous working experiences. Before committing to teaching, he had a variety of jobs, including ones in a pharmacy and a doctor's office, but he couldn't find anything to stick to. Growing up with a father who was also a teacher, Mr. Ulhaq found the profession inspiring. Additionally, he liked spending time with younger people, sharing his experiences with them and observing how the culture is changing among the younger generation. Drawn by both his connection with young people and a deep interest in teaching, he decided to become a teacher.
He also loves educating because there are so many things to learn about, even if you are the educator. He says if he had a job where he only did one thing and nothing else, he would definitely quit.
He said that he loved Chinese food, He also said that he is a vegan, so he wouldn't eat meat, even if it is cow or sheep meat.
It also turned out that he had been eating Turkish cuisine since he was a kid. He used to eat meze and lahmacun. He also said that there were two very good Turkish restaurants in both cities where he lived in China. The first place was called "Mevlana" and the second one was called "Bosphorus." He mentions that he used to enjoy sütlaç and pilav there.
He doesn't follow any sports, as said he has a poor sense of time, which makes it difficult for him to know when matches take place or to keep track of schedules. But there are various other things that he loves: Writing, watching movies, playing video games, painting things, building terrains for DnD games, talking to students, and helping them with their problems. He also loves the video games "Subnautica" and "CsGo". He says that he is a generalist; he knows a little about a lot of things. But he said that the topics about which he had deeper knowledge are very few.
He buys souvenirs from countries abroad, then when he comes back to his home in China, he has his tailor make something for him. He also said that he went to almost all of the Southeast Asian countries. He hopes that he can travel to Europe as well in his time in Türkiye.
When he was asked what three words he had to describe himself, he said: Bewildered, curious, optimistic. There is no doubt that Mr. Ulhaq will fit right in with the RC community, earning the love and admiration of his students through his pragmatic life experiences and free-spirited soul.
