Westwood Adaptation 101 helps international students adjust to UCLA

Firat Uran struggled to find housing and set up his insurance and bank account when he moved to UCLA from Istanbul, Turkey. A student in the UCLA Extension program, Uran said he found it difficult to adjust to Los Angeles.

“I had to discover everything by myself,” Uran said. “It was exhausting.”

His experiences led Uran to create the one-person company Westwood Adaptation 101, which emerged out of a project for his UCLA Extension class on marketing. Though he isn’t an official UCLA tour guide, Uran has tried to help five international students in the program adapt to life in Westwood and at UCLA.

For a $100 charge, Uran aims to help international students set up their phones and bank accounts, find health and car insurance, and prepare for driving exams, based on his own experiences doing the same. He started the company in late January.

He also provides tours of Westwood and the UCLA campus, and shows international students how to buy tickets and find information on local concerts and events online, through websites he found in his own experience and from his peers.

“You ask your friends, and everybody is asking these questions to each other,” Uran said. “I thought there should be a company for international students to adapt to the United States.”

Uran said while some undergraduate students attend tours and orientations before they begin school, he thinks some UCLA Extension students often have to figure things out on their own.

“What I’m doing is providing people with experience so they can focus on their studies or finding internships,” Uran said. “They have to think about more important stuff than this.”

Several international students in the Extension program said they faced similar difficulties to Uran’s.

Bahar Dagli, an extension student from Turkey, was one of Uran’s first customers.

“When I came to UCLA, I didn’t know anything about bank accounts or (transportation),” Dagli said. “(Uran) gave me information about UCLA and Westwood, and a lot of information about traveling.”

Tatiana Braun, an extension student from Brazil who has not used the company’s service, said she is currently having trouble finding and understanding health care at UCLA.

“I don’t really know where to go or what to do if I ever need medical care,” Braun said.

As well as trying to help international students with financial and insurance information, Uran also offers students advice on using smartphone apps such as Uber and Google Maps, finding the cheapest places to shop for groceries and buying tickets online for events. Sometimes he also helps his clients plan road trips to other parts of California.

After Uran finishes his studies at UCLA Extension, he said he plans to continue the business, and potentially start up other companies as well. He also hopes to expand Westwood Adaptation 101 and possibly open an office in the area.

Uran credits the classes he took at UCLA Extension with providing him with the skills to start his own company. One of Uran’s goals is to collaborate with UCLA Extension to reach as many students as possible in the future.

“If it weren’t for UCLA marketing (classes), this would have just stayed as an idea,” Uran said. “But now I know what to do and where to start.”

Contributing reports by Edward Pedroza, Bruin contributor.