In people’s lives, some days are special. This varies from person to person. There may be those who love traditional holidays, wedding anniversaries or their children's birthdays. An yet there are some people who prefer birthdays and New Year celebrations more. I am one of these people.

Actually, what matters is not which one is more special or beautiful but rather the meanings we attribute to these days. What is important is the energy and motivation that these special days reflect on the person. I am not writing this message to prepare you for a new year. I want to share with you my thoughs about the inspiration that these two important days reflect on me bearing in mind that as love and knowledge are shared, they increase and find meaning. A study which was conducted years ago investigated the age when people find and discover themselves. The answers were quite interesting. Some people answered that they were able to define why they came to this world at a very early age. However, most people said that they realised this too late in life and hence it was too late. This is actually a very sad situation. The reason for this may be the education system in various countries, or it may be that it takes time for the families to accept their children as “individuals”. However, the concept of time” varies for everyone. Even if it is late, it is in each of our own will to find and make life meaningful...

Since the time I became interested in personal development issues, I have attached great importance to my personal development as an individual. And during this process I realized that I am unique as an individual because each of us is unique with our unique background, character and talents. It means, “only we have some special abilities”, in other words, abilities that no one else has. Some of us are socially skilled, others have a high level of numeracy or mathematical ability, and nowadays, studies on intelligence use terms such as social intelligence, emotional intelligence, etc., referring to these different abilities. Not more or less, these are just unique features. Being aware of this tells us the following; “Love all these features you have,don’t try to change or be someone else”. That’s why I love my “birthday”; so much. It’s a pleasant feeling to be at peace with yourself. You are always open to improvement. You make an effort to strengthen the habits that you find lacking or that you see as weaknesses. This journey helps you have more constructive, more positive emotions and attitudes. In fact, rather than competing with others, you struggle with yourself and become more determined than the day before. You can set your goals and be more excited and eager to achieve them. Now let’s talk about why it is important to enter a new year. There is a classic saying. When starting an action, we set a day for ourselves and it happens to be usually “Monday”. We are really getting started. But for some reason, in the middle of the week, we either decide that we cannot succeed, or we see that our road is too long and full of difficulties. We suddenly panic and say, “l’ll start next week, not this week”. This is a frustrating situation, not being able to achieve the goals we set and experiencing the disappointments that come with it over and over again.

Therefore, I discovered an easier way to avoid falling into this trap. I tried to set small goals, usually Mondays was my favorite day. Every small goal I set, even if I failed, did not create regret in me, on the contrary, it helped me to ask myself the question “where could I have made a mistake”. I like my experiences, and I like to learn from them. Every new small goal is actually a journey to reach the big goal. For this reason, as I entered each new year, I welcomed, with love, the new path I would follow. I thought surprises were waiting for me. I foresaw that hope and dreams nourished my life. I have learnt to respect and value the people I am with and therefore to accept them as they are. I valued and appreciated the different qualities of each of them and even thought about what we could do together.

And now, we are all stepping into the New Year. With our hopes and passions…

To the very Valuable Academic and Administrative Staff of our University and to our very Valuable Students who are the reason of our existence, May 2024 bring you success, happiness, love and health. Let in the New 2024 your most cherished dreams come true! We have been working together since the day our University was founded and achieved such good results. I strongly believe that as we enter this New Year, together with our staff and students we will work harder with excitement and
spirit and accomplish important works as our University moves forward. We will do this with pleasure and love. We believe that together we are one big family. This sense of pride helps us welcome each new year with enthusiasm. I am so happy to be with each of you on this journey. With these thoughts I wish you all a New Year full of success and good health!