I’ve never considered myself a writer — but when my great-grandmother passed away at the age of 103, I felt the need to capture her story.
This memoir was my way to reflect, preserve, and honor the legacy of someone who helped shape my values and worldview.
🏅 This piece received a Silver Key from the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.
The Girl in the Picture
A date is scrawled in Turkish on the back of the photograph: October 17, 1924. It depicts a little girl, Nermiye, only seven years old.
Nermiye grew up and started high school, one of the first beneficiaries of the educational reforms of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey, which expanded female access to schooling.
On May 9, 1934, Atatürk invited Nermiye’s class of graduating seniors to his mansion. The most significant day in those students’ lives was recorded for history with a photo taken by the pool. Eighty-three years later, at the age of 100, she was interviewed for an article entitled “The Girl in the Picture”, as the oldest person still living who knew Atatürk, had a chance to witness Turkey`s revolutions and be part of it.
In the intervening years, Nermiye got married and had three children. Living alone while her husband served in the military, she raised her children with a zeal for education, carrying with her the values that Atatürk aimed to instill in the new Turkish state. She embodied the progressive virtues of curiosity and good faith inquiry. When Nermiye passed away at the age of 103, she left a hole in many hearts.
Nermiye, the girl in the picture, was my great grandmother. She was like my life teacher, my resource for history, our family backbone and oldest person that I can rely on. I admire her so much that every summer I was looking forward to seeing her and hearing new stories that had an impact on Turkey’s development. It was not only me actually, all her children and grandchildren were looking after her presents and power that she was injected into our blood. Even many others around her were getting inspiration from her present as being the oldest person that knew Ataturk and had the chance to learn a lot of things from him.
I loved my great grandmother so much but I did not realise her impact in my life and personal development until I lost her. The stories she told about her life and that of her young nation were formative influences on my worldview and morals, encouraging me to inquire into the world and make sure that, even outside of school, I was always learning from my surroundings. These century old values still guide me today, and animate my desire to pursue a higher education and dream to be a doctor.
Further, having grown up in social circles where pursuing a higher education was a given, my great grandmother’s life story helped me take a step back from my privilege and appreciate the power of education and learning. After her own education, further reform gave her a chance to make a difference through the Children’s Friends Association, a nonprofit organisation through which she helped underserved rural children access the same education she had enjoyed. While I am growing up surrounded by a good education, I see and will seize a similar opportunity to use my knowledge to build a safer, more prosperous world for my own grandchildren.
123 CODING WITH ME 