Hometown: New Haven, CT

Year: Junior

College: Davenport

Major: Political Science

Extracurriculars: New Haven Ward 1 Alderman (New Haven Board of Alders)

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Profile

Born and raised in New Haven, Hacibey (Haci) Catalbasoglu is the city’s youngest ever representative to the Board of Alders—New Haven’s legislative arm. As Ward 1 alder, Haci represents the only all-Yale ward of the city, and works to improve the town-gown relationship between the university and the Elm City.

Haci is a political science major with a concentration in urban studies. His father, a Turkish immigrant, is the owner and operator of Brick Oven Pizza in downtown New Haven. Before graduating high school, Haci spent many days and nights working at his father’s small business, often serving Yale students, professors, and staff. Haci is the first in his family to attend college, and he grew up with the philosophy that if you want to do something—no matter how outlandish it may seem—it is achievable.

Upon arriving at Yale, Haci knew that his goal was to figure out what his passion was, and he knew that the only way he could really do that was by “trying everything.” Along with joining clubs and meeting new people, Haci walked onto the heavyweight crew team the year they won the national championship. He went from an “average athlete” to rowing next to future Olympians at Yale.

But Haci says that the most invaluable thing Yale has given him is the desire to learn. He attended a high school where, to most, academics were not a priority; Haci didn’t have a longing to learn and didn’t enjoy spending his days in a classroom. However, this completely changed once he arrived at Yale. Whether the topic is “municipal finance or Greek history,” whenever something piques his interest, Haci tries to learn more about it, simply because it brings him joy.

Haci knew that going to Yale would involve a rigorous academic life, but that’s not where he cites his most valuable experiences. Haci’s personal growth has taken place late at night in his suite’s common room, discussing global politics with his suite-mates and in the process of launching his alderman campaign.

Haci says that these kinds of experiences offer a unique type of learning that one wouldn’t be able to find elsewhere. What makes Yale so special, according to Haci, is the environment outside of the classroom, which allows students to test their limits and discover things that one wouldn’t necessarily learn from a textbook.

Haci’s essays include his Common App personal statement.

ESSAY 1 (COMMON APP):

Personal statement

THAT KID FROM BRICK OVEN

I was five years old when my immigrant father created a makeshift bed out of two blankets from his truck and proceeded to put it under a brick oven for me to sleep in. It was 2 a.m. on a Saturday night and I was exhausted, so my father’s most practical solution was for me to sleep under the oven. I remember thinking to myself, “What the heck am I doing here?”

At the time, my parents were newly divorced, and I stayed with my father during the weekends. Because we did not have a babysitter, I was stuck at my father’s late-night restaurant, the Brick Oven Pizza, every weekend from 3 p.m. to 3 a.m.

Working at his restaurant in downtown New Haven, CT for nearly my entire life, I envied my friends who were at home playing video games and living normal kid lives. While they were challenging goblins and beating strange characters, I was challenging wood in a brick oven and beating dough on a granite counter. One time, to entertain myself, I tied three Coke bottles to a bucket and shook it to see if it would reach the moon. It didn’t, but I did learn a couple of things: making a soda rocket is very messy, and that three bottles aren’t enough. In hindsight, it was probably a good learning experience, because with any messier experimentation, I might have learned what pizza dough felt like after being pounded by the hands of my father. By the time I was ten, I could take orders on the phone and operate the register. Although I had to stand on a chair to see the person on the other side of the counter, I did my job, and I did it well. By twelve, I managed and worked full-time during weekends and summers at the Brick Oven. While manning the register, I met a variety of people—young and old, rich and poor, patient and impatient alike. On a typical night, I had conversations with everyone from giggling girls at 2 a.m. who just got out of the nearby nightclub, to Yale professors who stopped by to buy a slice, to (Bad) Chad Dawson, a New Haven native and boxing champion. I fell in love with talking and interacting with people, and people fell in love with my corny icebreakers. Over the years I’ve learned so much from this restaurant in downtown New Haven and its community. I have met so many people that wherever I go, I’m referred to as “that kid from Brick Oven.” In the countless hours spent at what is essentially my second home, I learned, firsthand, how to be an accountant, a behavioral therapist, a manager, a baker, a handyman, a social worker, and a skilled multi-tasker, all at the same time. I know that I will learn much more in college, but I anticipate that these skills will also come in handy. Most importantly, however, I witnessed my immigrant father working tirelessly throughout the years to support and build a life for me in the United States. The message I constantly heard from him was, “Son, work hard in school, so that you won’t have to work like me.” With this, his blue-collar work ethic was, and still is, instilled in me.

I never did get an Xbox or PlayStation, but it did not matter because I had my powdery flour, my cash register, and my friends from all over New Haven. I had the opportunity to learn fast from my surroundings, not just how to spin a perfect crust, but also how to interact with all sorts of people, at their best and their worst, at every hour of night. Most of all, I’m excited to explore what’s on the other side of the counter and what new challenges are in store for me in the future.

From 50 Yale Admission Success Stories: And the Essay That Made Them Happen, edited by the Yale Daily News Staff. Copyright © 2020 by the authors
and reprinted by permission of St. Martin's Publishing Group.