Faculty Spotlight: Perin Gocke
By ASTON CHAN ‘22
Perin Gokce, a new part-time teacher in the History and Social Sciences Department, lives and breathes teaching politics.
Gokce grew up in India before moving to Vienna with her family. During middle school she lived in London, an experience that gave her an appreciation and curiosity for learning about different cultures and history. Ms. Gokce then went to college in Ankara Turkey, and because “going to college in Ankara was a little more political than going to college elsewhere,” she became more interested in politics. During college, she decided to pursue her interest in politics and apply for graduate school in the United States. That said, Ms. Gokce’s path has been anything but linear. Before her graduate degree, she worked in the finance and agriculture sectors as well as at the Turkish consulate, but she “doesn’t think that there’s anything as fulfilling or meaningful as teaching.”
Upon coming to Milton, Gokce has been struck by “a really amazing community of people” that she feels makes the school so special, describing her students as exciting, thoughtful, and motivated to learn more. Ms. Gokce says that she “meets someone new on campus with a fascinating story every day” and “comes back to [her] classroom thinking about how privileged and lucky [she is] to be here.”
Ms. Gokce hopes to inspire her students beyond the classroom and encourage them to
be more politically involved. She will teach comparative government the second semester, and she would like her students to be active civic participants in their community. She hopes that her class will have a broader impact, for she wants “to not only teach students how government works, but also how they can be a part of it and have an impact in their communities.”
As Ms. Gokce embarks on her first year at Milton, her mother continues to inspire her. She describes her mother as incredibly smart, educated, thoughtful, and compassionate and says that her mother is the most giving person she’s ever known. Her mother has always been a role model, someone who encourages her and helps her find the courage and determination to keep trying when things don’t go the way she wants them to. Likely because of her mother’s positive influence, Ms. Gokce always emphasizes the importance of humility:
“I try to be humble, and I think that life has a way of humbling you, especially when you get older and as you have kids.”
Image courtesy of milton.edu