Background
Two years ago, the Turkish Students Association at the University of Waterloo didn't exist. No club. No budget. No exec team. Just a few Turkish students who kept bumping into each other on campus and saying “we should do something.”
Nil Aksu and I took that on. We filed the paperwork, built a WhatsApp group, and started running events with no budget and no playbook. The first events were small: food nights, tea, casual meetups. But people showed up because the need was real. They'd been waiting for this space to exist.
From there, it grew fast. We built an exec team of 15, secured WUSA recognition and SLEF funding, partnered with 10+ cultural clubs across UW, WLU, and McMaster, and ran 25+ events spanning food nights, watch parties, iftar dinners, trivia, bonfires, and career networking. Every event was free and open to everyone, regardless of background. I've never believed in gatekeeping culture or opportunity.
Careers Night
Our biggest event. 150+ people packed into Maxwell's in Waterloo on March 24, 2026 for two career panels, networking bingo, a traditional Karagöz puppet show, and a social that didn't quit until the DJ stopped playing.
The idea was to show students what Turkish-Canadian professionals had built across different fields. Not just tech. We wanted a room that reflected the full range: law, medicine, engineering, and immigration. A Partner at the world's largest law firm. A physician who just matched into a Canadian residency after training abroad. An ML engineering manager who walked the same halls at Waterloo not long ago.
We co-hosted with McMaster TSA, which expanded the reach beyond a single campus. Organizing an event of this scale took months of work: venue, panelists, catering, run-of-show, logistics for 150+ people. It was the most visible thing the club had ever done, and it worked because the room reflected the community. Culture isn't something you gatekeep. It's something you share.
Panel tracks
Programming
The Website
I built uwtsa.com as the club's digital home: event highlights, partner information, FAQs for incoming students, and contact details. It needed to feel professional enough for sponsors and administrators while being warm and inviting to a first-year student landing on it from an Instagram link, wondering if this club was for them. The answer should be obvious within seconds.
Impact
Takeaways
Just Start
We didn't wait for the right time, the right budget, or the right level of experience. We started with a group chat and an idea. If you're sitting on something thinking you need more before you start, you don't.
Culture Is Shared, Not Gatekept
Every event was free and open to everyone. The strongest communities aren't exclusive. They're magnetic. Openness was the strategy, not the compromise.
Collaboration Over Competition
Partnering with 10+ clubs across three campuses made every event stronger. Cultural clubs aren't competing for the same audience. They're building different doors into the same room.
Delegate Early, Trust People
The club outgrew what two co-founders could manage within the first term. Building a team and giving them real ownership was the only way to scale.