Two years at Brandeis. One year abroad. One year back at Brandeis. When split up in such a manner, four years of university does not seem like such a daunting proposition. Four years of studying, four years of finals and four years in beautiful Waltham. Even though four years of college can not-for the most part-be reasonably compared to a prison sentence, there is no doubt that Brandeis can begin to feel a bit suffocating after a year or two. Even the excitement of late night runs to the Expressway and sledding on trays stolen from Usdan gets a bit stale after a while.

When I first visited Brandeis three years ago on with my father, he suggested "two-one-one" as a survival slogan to ease my insecurities about coming to such a small and rather isolated school. As much as I liked Brandeis, I simply couldn't imagine spending four straight years here. The "two-one-one" breakdown, as elementary as it may seem, is a saving breath of fresh air.

While my plans have changed slightly, as I am only studying abroad for one semester and "two-one-one" has become "two and a half-one-half-one," the basic idea is the same. Going abroad is not my desperate escape though; it is my opportunity to experience another slice of the world.

A slice of Turkey to be exact.

The spring semester starts Jan. 29 and Istanbul, Ankara, and the coastal city of Alanya will be my new Shapiro, Usdan and Ziv.

During one of my visits to the study abroad office last spring, I was told that in making my decision of where to study, I read program evaluations provided by Brandeis students who had previously studied abroad. The binders, fat with recommendations and stories, sit on crowded shelves among colorful pamphlets and course catalogs-"Come to Switzerland!" "Make Brazil your home!" "Bonjour" and "Shalom!" With over 250 destinations, you can spend your junior year (and parents' money) traveling the world and experiencing a refreshingly different reality necessary in acquiring any true sense of global awareness.

When I asked the study abroad directors why there were no student evaluations of programs in Turkey, they were perplexed. I looked through the binder at least three times, frustratingly flipping back and forth through Israel, Egypt and Jordan in the Middle East binder only to go back to the European and Asian collections. Could I have missed them? I left the office with the promise that I would be contacted as soon as the case of the missing evaluations was solved. These binders only held records of the last eight years. Perhaps Turkey hasn't been visited by a study abroad Brandeisian since before then. "Should that make me nervous?" I asked. "No, no," they laughed, "it's probably just a little mix up."

Apparently, Turkey is not a hot study abroad destination.

Eventually, it became clear the "missing" evaluations were not just lost between Denmark and Chile. They don't exist because no one from Brandeis has studied abroad in Turkey for at least 20 years. While more international students at Brandeis hail from this country than any other, it seems the exchange has not been evenly reciprocated.

If it wasn't for my scholarship search, I am not sure that I would have even considered Turkey at all. The National Security Education Program offers full tuition and travel expenses of up to $20,000 for students who want to study in a non-western country critical to national security. As an anthropology and international and global studies major without working knowledge of Spanish or French, a non-western country sounded great. I skimmed through the list of 86 eligible countries-Kazakhstan, Korea, Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, Poland, Tajikistan, Kenya, India...

I closed my eyes, spun around three times and pointed randomly. Turkey is was
OK, so my decision to go to Turkey was not that random. After a little research and reading, and solid consideration of my academic and personal goals, I found that Turkey-sitting between the eastern and western worlds, attempting to join the European Union and being a secular Islamic society-was actually my dream destination uncovered. The more I learned and developed my scholarship proposal, the more exciting a semester in Turkey began to sound.

Unhappy with the one Turkish program approved by Brandeis, I appealed the office to approve another program operated by Georgetown University. This program visits all the major cities in the country and is centered in a medieval villa on the southwestern coast. I admit the prospect of waking up every morning to the Mediterranean Sea and the close proximity to the Greek islands played a part in my decision (although I left that out of the scholarship application).

My father never anticipated that the "two-one-one" model would send his daughter to Turkey, and neither did I. While I have encountered my share of raised eyebrows and sarcastic "have fun's," I promise that when my postcard finally arrives at Brandeis from the coast, plastered with a dazzling collage of images-ancient ruins, mosques, modern skylines, castles and the sea-you are going to slap it on your fridge and most assuredly "wish you were there."