How is Zeynep’s graduation speech connected to episode 1? 

Zeynep’s graduation speech is clearly connected to episode one in several referments, which will be explained in the following text. 

Zeynep starts her graduation speech by thanking all the teachers, as a common person would do in her place, but this scene directly connects her troubled childhood with her achievements: since she was prevented from having an instruction when she was a child (as you can see in episode one), her successful scholastic career strikes the most attention.  

An important thing to remember from the first episode is her adoption: her step-parents gave her the chance to attend school and get instructed. Without her adoptive parents she could have never attended university and never graduated. Her biological parents have a relevant role in her education, too: they are the reason why Zeynep chose to study law and what motivated her in her choices. 

After that she thanks her mothers, for the roles their importance in her life: even though they weren’t both equally present in her growth they had similar roles. Her biological mother cared for her, gave her the first chances to learn and protected her from her violent father, while her step-mother instructed her for good, letting her attend school and university and acted like her real mother. This is the reason why she thanks them together: they had the same importance in her life, even in different means. 

Following this scene Zeynep thanks Mehdi, even without directly saying it (she doesn’t tell who she’s thanking, though it is understandable trough the frames). Mehdi also had a very important role in Zeynep’s life: he accepted her even knowing her backstory. What’s more is that their lives seem to be connected by Fate: after several casual meetings, they finally got to know each other when their destiny was about to be decided. 

In the end Zeynep talks about her brother, who died at 13. She tells about their childhood and his dream to become a lawyer. Eventually she promised him to study law and become a lawyer. Her choice is not only due to the promise she made, though: becoming a lawyer would permit her to save many people from the kind of situation she had to live in as a child, and from which she had  lost her brother. 

Talking about her brother makes the circle full: the promise made, the chance given and the success are all results of her past and interactions with people she quoted in her speech.