CLASS OF 2000: Ali Ispahani

How to succeed in business? Transfer into WhartonHow to succeed in business? Transfer into Wharton"I am always scared I will go against the PC." Ali Ispahani gently tugs at the two earrings in his right ear, squinting in concentration as he searches for the right word. "Priorities," he says cautiously. "That is the most different thing about the people here than in my country of Turkey. "In America, materialistic values are number one. Emotional values are most important in Turkey." He adds that another major difference is that the United States places an emphasis on political correctness. "I am always scared I will go against the PC," he explains. "You say something here with goodwill and it can totally be used against me. I sometimes have to be careful about how I express myself. I believe in equality of the two sexes, but they are different. I don't believe PC should be protected over women or other minorities." Ali says though his country is "99.99" percent white and follows fundamentalist principles, "people feel much freer to speak their minds." Still, he has come to appreciate (and even enjoy) what Penn has to offer, despite his initial hesitations. For starters, he had applied to all the Ivy schools except Cornell, setting his heart on Columbia -- "because I love New York" -- or Brown, for its sailing program. But Penn was the only Ivy that accepted him, so he came to Philadelphia disappointed he would be living in Hill College House (he returned his housing request late) and frustrated he was not in Wharton. Ali now loves his single room in Hill, where he made several friends who are "already almost as close as my Turkish friends." "My friends are like roommates. We talk until morning." He still hopes to transfer into Wharton so he can enter the banking profession when he returns home to Turkey after college. "Wharton is much more well known than Penn," he asserts. "If you want to be in the business world, you need to be in Wharton. That's evidence of the superiority of Wharton." Until he can transfer, Ali has focused on improving his English language skills and learning more about American culture. "Turkish is one of the hardest languages, so learning English wasn't too hard," he says. "But I still have a narrow vocabulary so I study a lot. My essays are much better now than when I first got here." As for culture, Ali points out that the 13-hour flight between America and Turkey represents not only geographic distance but societal difference as well. "For example, there is no drinking age limit in Turkey. I always drank wine when I went to a restaurant. I drink when it's appropriate," he says. "For Americans, it's like when a bird flies away and once it's off the cage, they don't know their limits. They have to prove they're a man. They ruin many of their nights." But Ali says he finally feels comfortable at Penn, with the help of his advisors and his Turkish friends living in the States. "I didn't know anything about Penn when I moved in. I had never met an Indian or an Asian before I got here," he says. "I've learned a lot about a lot of things. "Although I love this place, Turkey is my home." n

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