METU CAMPUS DIARY 

 

The main campus 

Matthew Philippov, Commerce and Marketing BSc student 

 

Dear beloved METU… 

The main building of Nagy Lajos Campus has always been my favorite place. During my studies, when I came to the university every day, I often stayed on campus even after all my classes have ended - because there was a comfortable atmosphere that set me up to work. This helped me concentrate and turn ideas into action, no matter if it was an outside project, an academic project, homework, or just something personal that I wanted to do for myself.  

Everything that happens at the METU campus is about culture, about community, and the opportunity to help someone with a task, to discuss a new topic with someone else. It's about cohesion and sharing energy, sharing ideas. 

When the pandemic came, things have taken a different direction. We started doing everything from home, many people have moved away, and the ideas that inspired my creativity so much, have faded into the background. 

But the atmosphere of the campus remained inside of me. I am happy that through the METU ambassador program, I have the opportunity to share and release my knowledge, my ideas to the world. I am happy that thanks to our ambassador projects, I have the opportunity to share my knowledge and ideas with the world, because they will help someone make the right choice in life - and then we will meet him/her on campus, and we will be able to make great projects together. 

I would like to express special thanks to my team, NT & Leonor, with whom we have written this diary as well. I am grateful from the bottom of my heart that they gave me the chance to reveal my thoughts. We may be from different backgrounds - from fields of art, business and marketing and different areas of study - , but we share similar views and warm feelings for our university. 

 

OUR ART CAMPUS: 

METU Rózsa Campus 

 

Explore art workrooms, tools and equipments at our art campuses from METU students’ perspectives.  

The Photography Studio 

Leonor Hurtado, METU Graphic design BA student

 

As a Graphic Design BA student, one of the subjects we had this year was Photography and Printing Techniques. In this class, we mainly worked in the darkroom and the photography studio, where we had the amazing opportunities to work with different manual techniques and to develop films with the help of our teachers. 

I definitely loved learning how to process and create photographs in the old fashion way. We were able to create beautiful cyanotypes, argyrotypes and black-and-white analogue photographs that we managed to develop later with our teacher, using those works for other tasks. 

The photography workroom is certainly a place that has a unique, different charm. You can feel it the moment you set foot in the darkroom: the outside world remains outside the curtain, and inside there is only the energy to create unrepeatable images. 

Processing photographs by hand is an experience that I certainly recommend to anyone interested in the world of photography - working with a digital camera or taking a picture with a mobile phone is just not the same feeling. 

METU provides the opportunity to try techniques that I would not have been able to try elsewhere. Thanks to the university, I can now feel that I can integrate into a world that I had not imagined before, with a unique energy, and the will to create. 

 

The Artwork Room

NT Nguyen Trong Nghia, METU Graphic design MA student 

Rózsa Art Campus has always been my favorite place - it is my second home, with all the welcoming staff members at the reception, and the lovely lady in the canteen. It is a place of many memories of nurturing friendships and of teachers that are hard to find anywhere else. 

 

My absolute favorite places at Rózsa Campus are the workshop rooms underground. After the pandemic, the art workrooms were reopened and renovated. The spaces became larger, with many separate zones. The passages, like tunnels, were opened into each other, but they still have enough light and fresh air. Two different classes can take place at the same time. 

When it comes to the final projects, I usually spend the whole day in the workroom. It is very comfortable and full of practical tools. Here, I can turn my ideas from paper or computer into a finished product. 

For example, this semester I used silkscreen printing and applied it to tote bags. Printer, silkscreen, printing colors and tools are all available, my task is to mix colors in proportion and print each color in turn. 

This art workroom reminds me of the Room of Requirement in the Harry Potter film series - a magical room in the Hogwarts castle, which can only be discovered by someone who is in need. 

Yes, the Rózsa art workroom is like that: because in this room, I can also find interesting things from the works of the previous courses, and all kinds of machines from ancient to modern are stored here. All of them seem to be hiding in this room, just waiting for the steps of freshmen who are to come and explore. 

 

Warm regards, 

Matthew Philippov, Leonor Hurtado & NT Nguyen Trong Nghia 

 

Are you ready to have the best experience studying abroad?
Check out METU bachelor’s and master’s programs in the heart of Europe, Budapest! 

2022. 05. 26.