Future College Student
Yudum Naz Arslan
"Best result would come from everyone in the group doing what is best for himself and the group."
- John Forbes Nash, Jr.
About Me
I was born in Houston, Texas and raised in Istanbul, Turkey. From a young age onward, I have been exposed to multiple cultures. I went to 4 schools in 3 different countries and I am currently attending Windermere Preparatory School in Florida, USA. That gave me a unique blend of multicultural perspective and an understanding of how minorities feel in any society. It is a genuine advantage as it enables me to fit in regardless of the setting. Whatever university I end up attending, I am convinced that I will have no academic or adaptation difficulties. I have both Turkish and US citizenship and am fluent in both Turkish and English. I am also at conversational level in American Sign Language and Spanish. During my years at Windermere Preparatory School, I have made many friends from all around the world. I learned about and appreciated their cultures. I enjoyed their food, their company and their wisdom. Having been raised and mentored by a father who is a successful self-made businessman, a positive entrepreneurial outlook is natural to me. In my future career, I will strive to be a force for good and to come up with and implement life-changing ideas.
Art has a central place in my life. I have been professionally playing piano for nine years. Besides nourishing my soul, it has taught me the importance of dedication and discipline. As the renown Turkish pianist Fazil Say once remarked, if you don’t practice a day, you notice, a week, critics notice, a month, the audience notices.
I have been painting for as long as I remember and had numerous exhibitions over the years. Four years ago, I added dancing to my artistic repertoire. It is a different and a highly satisfactory way of expressing myself. It is also a universal language that transcends cultures.
As artistic endeavors require perseverance and practice, they are a great way to prepare for the rigors of the academic world. An artist is someone who doggedly pursue excellence. And if you can move this pursuit to other fields of activity, success is easier to achieve.
I am confident that my multicultural background, my discipline and perseverance will help me become an excellent student and enable me to contribute to the university I attend.
Education
My Studies
Projects
NEXT GENERATION OF GLOBAL LEADERS
I have an absolute passion for writing which can also be demonstrated with a book that I published,
Next Generation of Global Leaders. I discussed with my classmates at Windermere Prep to analyze the diversity of cultures and traditions from countries of all corners of the world from Mozambique to Vietnam to Ukraine. This book is a project that I identified, initiated, researched and implemented and is a further testament to my leadership skill. The book has gained recognition from the school’s headmaster as being a tool that helped to inject unity and pride within the school’s student body.
My Experience
Internships
Acun Medya - MasterChef Turkey
September 21, 2020 -
September 28, 2020
Acun Medya Global is a passionate and devoted group of creatives and format producers who aim to deliver entertaining, inspirational, and high quality content. In Acun Medya Global, I was assigned to work with the social media content team of MasterChef Turkey. I monitored the social media platforms for trending news and ideas, contributed to social media content and kept social media accounts updates, and used analysis of the current trends as a marketing strategy to propose new ideas.
Gold Film Medya
August 31, 2020 -
September 13, 2020
Gold Film Media is a local film production company in Turkey. As an intern, I was the assistant to the art director and to the costume designer. I also helped the crew on set during the filming of Bay Yanlis, a Turkish TV show. I completed any task I was given. Being an assistant art director, I had to pay a lot of attention to small details to spot inaccuracies and ensure everything is high standards. It is important to find cost effective solutions to problems that occur during filming. Furthermore, as an assistant costume designer, I mostly handled wardrobe fittings for each actor’s role and ensured all outfits are ready for the next scene. It was crucial for me to use my voice and creativity for what I did.
FOX News Turkey
December 30, 2019 -
January 3, 2020
In Fox News Turkey, I was assigned to be a part of the reporter department. Every morning, I had to research different news articles to discuss in our daily meetings. Some of these articles would later be chosen to prepare and use during the news. I was lucky enough to have various articles get chosen by the head of the department. I used my communication skills to find and contact people who were a part of the article to interview them with the help of a reporter at Fox News. I also made translations from foreign news channels. Through this intern, I observed how a news story was prepared and presented.
Harper’s Bazaar Magazine
November 22, 2019 -
November 30, 2019
In Bazaar Magazine, I was an intern in the Social Media Marketing Department. I dove deeper into the visual side of the editorial department. I was in the position of a junior designer where I shared my vision for the cosmetics of the magazine. This included specific colors to attract the viewer’s eyes and selection of photos within hundreds of them as a marketing strategy.
Cosmopolitan Magazine
March 11, 2019 -
March 22, 2019
During this internship, I became a part of their daily operations and gained experience in the media industry with practices of page layout, art and photo research, and color separation. Although I was behind the scenes, I worked very hard and learned so many new things about the media as I drove deeper into specific fields. I followed up on the overall preparation operations of the magazine, both digital and printed versions. I was briefed on each and every procedure and helped the team on their daily tasks.
BKM: Beşiktaş Culture Center
July 26, 2018 -
July 27, 2018
BKM liked how well I worked and interacted with people that they invited me to work and help out in at one night event. Joe Satriani is a guitar virtuosos who performed at Küçükçiftlik Park. That night, I was placed in the hospitality department and accompanied foreign guests in case they needed any help. Before the show started, we experienced technical difficulties regarding our guest lists. I was brave enough to share my ideas with my boss to solve this issue. Soon enough, there were no problems and the show was ready to begin.
BKM: Beşiktaş Culture Center
July 3, 2018 -
July 11, 2018
Beşiktaş Kültür Merkezi (BKM), is a media production company that hosts big events. Worldwide known singer Shakira was on her El Dorado tour when she came to Turkey. BKM organized this whole event. I volunteered at BKM and told them I was ready to work at the hospitality desk even though it was my first time being an intern. My boss liked what I did so much that he gave me an access pass to Shakira’s room to be her wardrobe assistant just before the show. I was the only one allowed inside. Before the show started, I assisted a group of handicapped elders who needed special care and made sure that everything went well. Furthermore, Shakira and I got along so well that she asked me to spend time and babysit her 2 sons when she was on stage. After the show was over, I received many compliments from Shakira and the rest of her team. In fact, Shakira’s manager told my boss that I was a keeper.
My Skills
Painting
August 2012 - Present
Dance
August 2017 - Present
Piano
August 2010 - Present
Tennis
December 2018 - 2019
Interests
Clubs
NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY
National Honor Society is a club that aligns the values of WPS (Versus, Veritas, Unitas) with scholarship, service, leadership, and character. There are many requirements in order to be a member of the club such as 2 letters of recommendation, minimum of 3.65 unweighted GPA, 25 community service hours per year, and so much more.
NATIONAL ART HONOR SOCIETY
NAHS is a program created to inspire and recognize students who have shown an outstanding ability and interest in art. The program supports members in their efforts to attain the highest standards in art scholarship, character, and service, and to bring art education to the attention of the school and community. This includes doing art sessions, watching art-related films, and using art to give to our community. I became a member of a distinguished group of 58,000+ outstanding art students.
NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN
National Organization for Women is a club for those who believe in the fact that women should control their lives, equality, social justice, and ending violence and discrimination. In this club we meet like minded people and work together to change the circumstances that negatively affect our lives and the lives of people we care about.
NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY FOR DANCE
National Honor Society for Dance is a club that finds a way to create a love of dance and promote it within our community. The club has big fundraisers like Dancing with Athletics in which all the proceeds go to Kids Beating Cancer organization. Other activities include bake sales, dancing at Lakerthon, or retirement homes.
ALWAYS PURPOSE CLUB
The AllWays Purpose Club is a club focused on producing HANDMADE therapeutic dolls for kids with illnesses (such as kidney diseases, heart diseases and cancer). The dolls have similar characteristics as the children that receive them, making these children able to see themselves in the dolls. This initiative contributes to the increase in the child's self esteem which is critical during the recovery process.
FASHION CLUB
The Fashion Club also partnered with FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising) which made us eligible for a $2,000 dollars scholarship for being an active member. During this time, we also had a sewing class from Nicole Sharp who is a fashion designer with many years of experience in the fashion industry. We learned many things about the fashion industry including fabric studies of pattern making, illustration sketching, and sewing.
RUSSIAN CLUB
The Russian Club was dedicated for anyone interested in Slavic and Russian cultures! Here, in the club, we learned the language, culture, and had the opportunity to try some Russian foods. Not only did we try amazing dishes but we also learned how to make it ourselves. We had many volunteer events like bake sales. We also celebrated Russian holidays together to build a stronger bond between cultures.
AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE CLUB
The American Sign Language Club is a club where we learn about the def community. This club aims to encourage people to gain more awareness towards those who are in need of help. We also practiced singing and learned new vocabulary to further expand our knowledge in order to easily communicate with each other.
LEND A PAW
Lend a Paw is a club that creates a bond between people and dogs. There are many community service works that involve helping the local shelters/rescues. All profits from the club go to A Forever Home Animal Rescue.
WOUNDED WARRIOR CLUB
Wounded Warrior Club is a, where we give back to our community by helping retired and injured Veterans. We do this through volunteering, bake sales, canned food drives, and more!
Testimonials
“Yudum, also known as Turkish Delight, is one of the prettiest girls I met both inside and outside. Yudum is one of the most positive and caring people I’ve ever met. She is so loving and always helping and making people feel better. I sincerely can’t count how many times she brightened my day. I love how she is so determined and hard working and always wants to help people no matter what. I love her with all my heart and I know she will impact and change so many people’s lives with her unique light inside her.”