Delightful Istanbul Summer School Program - 2018

2018-09-07
   

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Delightful Istanbul Summer School Program – 2018

"Istanbul, the city of magic”

On July 28th 2018, we five students and a Professor Dr. K. G. Purushotham from the Department of Biotechnology, Dr. MGR Educational and Research Institute, Chennai set out on a journey to Istanbul for delightful summer school program, Istanbul Aydin University, Istanbul, Turkey.

The students were enrolled on the course Genetics: Working with DNA, the program was filled with hands on training in the genetics laboratory and also the theory, the course consisted of two tests the mid-term and the final exam of which all of our students have passed the test.

The best thing about the course was the hands on training of the in the laboratory with some important practices like isolation of DNA, DNA Sequencing, Electrophoresis and PCR.

  

The sequence given to the students were taken from the real patients, it was not a practice but training in itself about the genetic disease and their treatment.

The students were also given assignments on a timely basis and for the final project each of the students was assigned a particular disease of which they had to design a primer which can be used for treating that particular genetic disease.

The students were also given a free tour in the university hospital and a specific tour in the genetics department of the hospital were the students got to know about the process and the treatment of the diseases.

 

The program also had a one day workshop on the Turkish cuisine organized by the university.

The Delightful Program was about various courses and around 70 students from different countries like Germany, Brazil, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Lebanon, and Malaysia and may other countries.

This was also a sort of cultural exchange with people from various countries and also tours were arranged so that students can know about the cultures of Istanbul, Turkey.

The students visited the places like Topkapi Palace, Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia to experience the monuments and the vast history of Turkey. The students also experienced the ferry ride along the Bosphorus Sea tour where the seas between Asia and Europe meet. The social tours also had visits to the Via Land theme park and Taksim and Galata Tower the hottest tourist spot in Istanbul.

Experiencing the beautiful city Istanbul was one of the best thing ever happened to the students the city is where the Asian and European cultures meet, it is a unique city with a magnificent history which changed the course of the world. The city is filled with humongous infrastructure with modern day architecture and also age old cultural buildings and monuments of the city have been maintained very well. Istanbul is a place which cannot be through the eyes and one cannot claim that they have seen Istanbul, it is place which should only be felt, and the magic of the place should be felt. Despite the hot summer the cool and friendly attitude of the people are some of the key points that we learned from the people of Istanbul. The use of the Turkish language is very evident and the people are very proud of their ancestry and heritage and this made us realize about a mistake that we should be proud our native tongue no matter whatever it is.

Istanbul is a place where one cannot experience it as a whole by travelling across the city, it is a place where one should get lost and experience the magic as they say in Istanbul:

"Freezing cold I follow

The wind like an arrow

It will lead me to you

I’m lost in Istanbul”

This is the place where one can only experience the magic by getting lost in the crowd of one of the friendliest people in the world.

The experience of a first world country was one to cherish, the students experienced the difference between the developed and a developing country like out of all the differences in the education, transport and basic amenities in the system.

The volunteers and the faculties of the Istanbul Aydin University are extremely hard working and friendly, their dedication and support to us should be admired and we thank all of them for their help.

The students returned on 13th August 2018 and reached Chennai on 14th of August after completing the course.

On a final note we would like to thank our Honorable President for his support, all the executives and our Head of the Department and office of International relations Dr. M.G.R. Educational and Research Institute