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Funda Çakmak’s journey is anything but ordinary. A transfer student from Northern Virginia Community College, she’s now navigating her first semester as a junior at ����AV’s , majoring in , an innovative undergraduate degree program that’s one of the first of its kind in the nation.

Born and raised in Germany to Turkish parents and transplanted to the United States in 2011, Çakmak is a newly minted American citizen, having been naturalized in August. And on November 5, at her first opportunity, she found profound satisfaction in casting her first vote in a U.S. election, at an elementary school near her home in Haymarket, Virginia. Her milestone vote drew the attention of an ABC news program curious about first-time voters. (You can

Çakmak once envisioned herself wearing a badge or a uniform, working in law enforcement or the military. At 20, however, she took a detour—a one-year au pair position for a family in Virginia.

Divorced since February 2023, the single mother of three—twin 11-year-old boys and a 9-year-old daughter—Çakmak stays busy with her family and her studies while also managing a limited liability corporation.

In 2021, she ventured into entrepreneurship, founding FC International GMBH, a Germany-based company specializing in fiber optic cable infrastructure.

But what she really wants to do, she said, is use her Schar School degree to work for the government in some capacity, ideally for a national security or diplomatic agency that would offer opportunities for travel once her children are grown.

As she works toward her goals, she imagines a day when she’s not just traveling the world but leaving a mark on it, a legacy her children can be proud of.