Guller Yazgi Akata was born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey. She has recently graduated from Darussafaka Schools where she attended on a full scholarship. She is the latest recipient of the YEF scholarship and will be enrolled as a freshman at the University at Buffalo in late August.

Her life changed with the “equality of opportunities in education” motto at the age of ten when she enrolled in Darussafaka Schools. During her time at school she became actively involved with such world renowned organizations as Destination Imagination, Space Camp, FIRST Robotics Competition, Best Buddies, Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Program, and her efforts with her teams in these organizations were crowned with achievements from attaining first place in invitational and national tournaments to becoming the first Turkish team to receive one of the most prestigious awards in the championship.

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She was an exchange student, a cultural ambassador with KL-YES Program by the U.S. Department of State during 2019-2020 academic year, in which she volunteered over a hundred hours. Additionally, she was an editor for the student literary magazine “Carpe Diem”, taken courses from “Experimental Leadership” to “Artificial Intelligence & Deep Learning”, participated in various events from “International Education Week” to “Future of Independent Education in Europe Conference”.

Yazgi is keen on science & technology, mathematics and social studies. She wants to explore how technology advancements and data structures can positively impact our environments, promote understanding, and better mobilize us to take action towards issues like climate injustice, poverty, gender and social inequality of opportunities. A firm believer in the power of education and collective effort, Guller Yazgi Akata is beyond grateful and delighted to be the newest member of YEF family.