Two women who attended the courses opened by the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Vocational Factory, Başak Bodur and Serap Kandemir, returned to the institution where they attended the course as instructors. Başak Bodur, who graduated from the Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Cultivation Course, and Serap Kandemir, who completed the Cake Making Course, not only received vocational training, but also began sharing their knowledge to train new colleagues.
In the 90th year of Turkish women being granted the right to vote and be elected, women are now talked about not only for their democratic rights but also for the success stories they have written in every aspect of life. The İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Vocational Factory, which provides opportunities for İzmir residents to be employed in various sectors with its vocational and technical courses, is witnessing many exemplary stories that bring smiles to faces. Başak Bodur, who started looking for a job after graduating from the agricultural engineering department and applied to the Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Cultivation Course at the Vocational Factory, started working as an instructor in the course she was trained in. Serap Kandemir, who had to quit her profession after working as an accounting and finance teacher for a while, returned to the Vocational Factory as an instructor after the Cake Making Course, where she received training as a hobby. Stating that they have always had a love of teaching, the women made us say, “There is no age limit for both learning and teaching.”
Graduated from the course, job application accepted
Başak Bodur, an agricultural engineer who has been an instructor at the Vocational Factory for about 2 years, said that after graduating from the Department of Agricultural Engineering at Ege University, she started looking for a job and enrolled in the Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Cultivation Course in order to improve herself. Bodur, who received training at the Vocational Factory in 2022, applied for a job at the Vocational Factory Employment Unit and Izmir Metropolitan Municipality after graduating from the course. Bodur, who was very happy with the feedback she received, started teaching at the Vocational Factory Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Cultivation Course at the beginning of 2023.
From trainee to instructor
Başar Bodur, who said, “I started teaching at the institution where I came as a trainee,” said that he was happy to work in his profession, agriculture, and to do a job that touches people. Bodur, who noted that trainees who received training at the Vocational Factory gained financial freedom in addition to gaining a profession, made him happier, said, “I always had the desire to teach and be a teacher. I am very happy to have gained this. In this course, we show the planting and harvesting times of medicinal and aromatic plants, how to grow them, how to store them and what can be obtained from plants. Our course provides employment especially for women. It is a course that opens the way for young and female farmers. Such courses make a great contribution to both Izmir and women.”
He reinforced his passion for the profession with a master's degree
Serap Kandemir has been an instructor at the Food and Beverage Services Course at the Meslek Fabrikası for 2 years. Stating that she met the Meslek Fabrikası in 2017 and started the Cake Making Course as a hobby, Kandemir stated that she decided to work in the field of gastronomy after graduating from the course. Taking her knowledge to the next level, Kandemir took the university exams and won the gastronomy department, and after graduating from the department, she started her master's degree in the same field. After improving herself, Kandemir applied to the Meslek Fabrikası Employment Unit and crowned her talent in the kitchen by starting to be an instructor at the institution she was a trainee at. While continuing her master's degree at the İzmir Katip Çelebi University Gastronomy and Culinary Arts Department, Kandemir, who also worked as an instructor at the Meslek Fabrikası, thanked the institution's administrators for allowing her to work without interrupting her education.
He returned to teaching
Kandemir, who stated that she worked as an accounting and finance teacher for a while before taking a course at the Meslek Fabrikası, but continued to live as a housewife for a long time, said, “I was at home, I was not working and I was a woman who was busy raising her children. When I joined the Cake Making Course as a hobby to socialize, I saw that I loved this job very much.” Kandemir, who reunited with her students after she started working as an instructor at the Meslek Fabrikası, said, “Teaching is a very sacred profession. My students are very valuable to me. We offer people work, bread and employment here. I have many students who started their profession after hearing my story. I tell them, ‘You can succeed too.’”
