WM: Where did you study after graduating from AISB?

 

I graduated from ASE Business Administra- tion and International Relationship. I took some courses in relation to project management, negotiations, etc.

 

WM: What is the career path you have chosen?

 

I started working when I was in 12th grade in a service provider company as an assistant project manager and as a card embossing operator, embossing credit and debit cards for financialinstitution in accordance with Visa and Master-Card regulations. When I finished high schooland entered university I opened up an advertis- ing agency, which went great since in a year and a half I sold it and opened a better one. Around the last year of university, aside from preparing for the final exams, licenta, and such I was managing my mother’s restaurant, my advertising agency, and school.

I had a choice of either dropping school at the last year or dropping everything else to gradu- ate since the principle of the university simply didn’t enjoy the company of Turkish people so they obligated me to attend each course to be able to graduate. So I sold the agency, gave the restaurant back to my mother, and locked myself in the house and studied. (I was never a good student: Mrs. Suma, Mr. Muller, Mr. Elliot and any other teacher I had in AISB can tell you that! I was the only student who was sent tothe principal’s office more times than we hadclasses in one day! Mr. Muller would say “Suha is the only kid who can probably get away from murder in ASB!”)

 

Anyway, after graduating university my father asked me to work for a corporate company before thinking to begin my own thing again. So I worked 2 years in CEB Credit Europe Bank, got promoted 3 times, completed projects such as statement migration, silver business card, outsourcing the embossing activity, merchant migration, and such long before the deadlines! Unfortunately there was no salary raise so I thanked everyone and handed in my resigna-tion. After that I opened an information verifi- cation company which utilized retired cops tolocate debtors from older profiles of banks, col- lection and leasing companies. Overall I located75% of the debtors from profiles which were 5-7years old. Unfortunately, it was the crisis and relocated debtors were broke and my services were just an extra cost for my clients. I closedup the office, took a couple of months break,and started working in our family business.

 

WM: Where in the world are you right now and what are your plans for the future?

 

I am in Bucharest but I travel a lot throughout the Balkans to keep up with our clients and explore potential new clients. I also travel to Turkey a lot since my family is there and because I race in the UIM World 225 Powerboat Championship.

 

WM: We are interested to see a glimpse of your lives - are you married, do you have kids, how many, etc.?

 

I am getting married on June 23rd. We havebeen together for about 10 years so I don’t as- sume much will change. I am looking forward to having kids, since it will be interesting growing up with them. I am and always will be a kid at heart but I have a feeling my kids might change that.

 

Lets see, I race powerboats and I will race in a classic rally championship next year, also I raced Go Karts before. I skateboard, snow-board, wakeboard, surf, base-jump, paraglide,etc. I love to jump off high places and as youcan imagine I love the adrenaline one gets from these sort of activities. Mr. Elliot said at our graduation in front of the whole school and my family “Suha is most likely to have his own hemp wear shops, and the slogan will be that“The sales are on fire!” I spoke to Mr. Elliott lastyear he was quite happy that he was wrong about his assumption!
 

I have so many stories but I guess some shouldbe kept private. On my first day of school in 6th grade I didn’t speak a word of English. Mr.Hedger made Lex Mulder responsible for showing me the school. When we were in front of the school where the older kids were Lex punchedme in the stomach, I guess just to show off in front of everyone. Unfortunately for him hedidn’t know where I came from and what we
did for fun, so I beat him up pretty good until the teachers took him from me. They asked me what happened, knowing the way Lex was I guess, and I basically used my hands to showthem that he punched me first. He got detentionand I got a pat on the back from the older kids.

ASB was like a second family for me since both my parents were working super hard. Mr. Muller knew that if my father or my mother had to stop whatever they were doing to attend to what I did that week, I would get a nice beating at the end. So he did everything in his power to keep things away from them. I have no idea the exactamount of exams I had to take in Mr. Muller’s of-fice rather than in class due to teachers kickingme out.

So many great memories. My sister went to AISB after I graduated and from what I saw, things were not the same like they were in ourgeneration. We were more united and we didn’tdiscriminate against anyone. What people wore was never an issue and we helped each other out in every aspect possible.



Read the entire WORLD Magazine Summer 2012 edition here.