Öğrenciler: students in Rhode Island

Every September a few hundred students arrive in Rhode Island from Türkiye, or come from Turkish families across the US. Some know nobody here. We would like to be the first phone number you save.

A welcome dinner, twice a year

In the first weeks of each semester we host a home-cooked dinner for students: mantı, börek and baklava, and families from the community who were once new here too. No ticket, no speeches, just names and phone numbers exchanged.

Bayram when you cannot go home

Ramazan and Kurban Bayramı rarely fall on a school break. Member families open their homes for bayram breakfast, and the society hosts a dinner for anyone without a place to go. You will not spend a bayram alone.

A mentor in your field

Our members work in medicine, engineering, finance, academia and small business across Rhode Island and Boston. Tell us what you study and we will introduce you to someone who has walked the path: internships, graduate applications, the first job, the first visa question.

The student fund

A small fund, built from member gifts, for the things that go wrong: a lost laptop before finals, a flight home for a family emergency, a textbook that costs more than a week of groceries. Requests are confidential and decided by two board members within a week.

Give something back

Students run our Saturday play group, teach folk dance for the Republic Day show, and help at the Children’s Day picnic. Volunteer hours count on your résumé and the kids will remember your name for years.