Meet Sahika Aydinol (Questrom’22)
Please note that this video was filmed before the COVID-19 outbreak. By continuing to share students’ stories like this one, we hope to inspire and connect our alumni & friends. If you’d like to learn more about what Boston University is doing to minimize the impact on our campuses and beyond, please visit the University’s COVID-19 information site.
Who is Sahika?
Sahika Aydinol (Questrom’22) was born in Pennsylvania to Turkish parents but spent most of her childhood going back and forth between the US and Turkey. Her family ultimately settled in Istanbul, where Sahika attended an international high school.
Through many different school and personal outings, Sahika developed an interest in business and social change—a passion she wished to focus on abroad. By senior year, Sahika was all set to attend a university in the United States; she had spent time and effort taking the appropriate classes and exams. But when it came down to it, her parents could barely afford a plane ticket.
Because of some risky financial investments and an exchange rate that didn’t favor Turkish lira, attending college after high school didn’t seem possible. The scholarship she received from BU changed that.
“BU completely transformed my life.”
Boston University offered a financial aid package that allowed Sahika to pursue her education without any financial contribution from her parents.
What is she up to now?
After receiving what she calls “a kickstart from BU,” Sahika has become the sole provider for her own expenses. She has learned what many don’t learn until after school: how to make an appropriate budget and stick to it. She’s proud of her independence and even prouder that she’s able to bring a new perspective into her classes. She jokingly describes herself as the “ultimate diversity student”: a queer, female, first-generation American from a predominantly Muslim country.
Her unique perspective on the world makes her extremely vigilant about social injustice—a trait she uses as she pursues a dual major in business administration and political science.
What’s next?
Sahika hopes to go into consulting, management of a nongovernmental organization, journalism, policymaking, or a combination of all those things. Since she was named “most likely to prove the existence of God but never tell anyone about it” in high school, it’s no surprise that her career and personal ambitions reach the sky.
“Without the scholarship, I would have never found myself in this multicultural, diverse, and dynamic community.”