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A spirit that is not afraid

Mother-daughter duo creates AU dining family

<p>Ayşe Bilgili poses with her granddaughter, Maya.</p>

Ayşe Bilgili poses with her granddaughter, Maya.

For Ayşe and Zeynep Bilgili, taking care of Auburn students is a family business. 

Ayşe Bilgili works at Au Bon Pain in the Melton Student Center, and Zeynep Bilgili works at Panda Express in Foy Hall. The two have been constant fixtures in their respective restaurants on campus for over 14 years. 

“We know a thousand people,” Zeynep said. “And they know us.” 

They have provided great service, smiling faces and lasting friendship to countless students, including Allie Glover, junior in healthcare administration.

“Mrs. Ayşe treats everybody like her best friend,” Glover said.

While The Plainsman published an article featuring Zeynep earlier this year, it did not include her mother or the close family ties they share. 

“We love each other,” Ayşe said, pulling her daughter into a playful hug. 

The family first came from Turkey to America when Zeynep’s husband, Ilker – “Ike” – started working as a technician for the University’s poultry science program.

Ayşe decided to enroll Zeynep in English classes, and to keep her from being bored, she also encouraged her to apply for a job on campus. 

The mother and daughter filled out a job application together with what, at the time, was very limited English. Because they included both their names, however, both were offered jobs. 

Zeynep started immediately, but Ayşe had to go back to Turkey for about a month. 

Before she left, however, they met with a manager that Ayşe called “Bob.”

He sat them down and had them identify items on a menu written in English. She laughed and said they had difficulty identifying the bagel because “we have no bagel in Turkey.” 

However, Ayşe said he spoke fluent German, which allowed them to communicate better because she speaks German, Turkish and, now, English. 

Ayşe said that connection influenced her decision to work for the University upon her return to the U.S.

Ayşe described her first day on the register as incredibly difficult, “terrible” in terms of the English she had to learn on the fly, but still “exciting.” 

Both Ayşe and her daughter said learning English was difficult, including pronouncing English names at work. 

Ayşe said students and coworkers sometimes laugh when she has trouble with pronunciations, but that some of her students know her and know that their name might be difficult. This includes names like “Robert,” “Katie” and “Peter,” Ayşe said. 

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“I don’t care too much,” she said. “It is different for us. It is difficult, but it’s OK.” 

Ayşe and her daughter have both worked for Tiger Dining for over a decade now. 

Across campus, the two are known, whether individually or as a pair, for their hospitality and love. The love is on both ends. 

“I know [students] love me,” Ayşe said. “I love them.”

Glover is one of the many students Bilgili considers her friends, or even her “kids.”

“One is from New York,” Ayşe said. “She text[ed] me in pandemic, ‘Mrs. Ayşe, are you OK?’ because she got — somewhere — coffee, and she [remembered] about me. “She was coming every morning. She was getting coffee.”

Ayşe said she has even been invited to the wedding of one of her “daughters.” 

“She is inviting me for her wedding next June,” she said. “And I will go. I will go because I like her. I love her. And before, I gave her a bracelet.”

Ayşe explained that she had given a few students, including Glover, an evil eye bracelet for luck.

Ayşe implied that the bracelets, which she bought in Turkey, might bring luck specifically for marriage. 

“She sent me a picture (of her engagement ring): ‘Look, Mrs. Ayşe, your bracelet is with me,’” she said.

Ayşe said she has also attended several graduations.

In addition to caring for her students, Ayşe often takes care of her granddaughters while Zeynep works in the evenings. 

Maya and Lara Bilgili, 8 and 11 years old respectively, are students at Creekside Elementary School.

The family has no desire to leave Auburn, especially when considering their children. 

Zeynep said her children were “safe in here.” 

“We love Auburn,” Ayşe said. 

Despite living in Auburn for over a decade, they are all avid travelers, regularly going back to visit Istanbul and other cities in Turkey, as well as traveling worldwide. 

Ayşe said they still have a family home in Istanbul where they stay when they visit. Their extended family still lives in Turkey. 

Ayşe’s son Murat is a pilot in Turkish airlines, she said, and they visited him last summer in Barcelona, where he was studying at the time.

They went to Paris after visiting him. They have also been to Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore, New York and Orlando among others, she said. 

“When I travel, I like everywhere,” Ayşe said. “When I go [to] Paris, I love Paris. When I go [to] Barcelona, I love Barcelona.” 

Despite their travels, Zeynep said they are happy in Auburn.

“I think Auburn is kind of an international city,” Zeynep said. “So many cultures together at the same time.” 

She said they have seen the city grow over the last 15 years, including more buildings and more traffic. However, the international community has grown with it. 

“It’s growing; it’s good,” Ayşe said. “I like this.” 

Ayşe said that if they ever were to move, they would have to “go together” as a family. 


Emma Kirkemier | Campus Reporter

Emma Kirkemier, junior in English literature with a minor in journalism, is the campus reporter for The Auburn Plainsman.

@emmakk253


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