Party of my life with international students! - Stipendium Hungaricum Gala
The Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship program was established by the hungarian government in 2013. More than 500 students have started their studies at the University of Pécs with this scholarship, which shows how unique this program is. The scholarship holders are mainly coming from the Middle-East, the Far-East and Africa.
Photo: Gergely Kisfali
The Tinnitus Choir opened the Gala – they are the choir of the norwegian students’ at the UP Medical School. After that Prof. József Bódis, the rector of the University, and Dr. István Tarrósy the director for international relations addressed their welcome speeches.
The University of Pécs has nearly 3400 international students coming from 105 different countries, which means that more than 15% of the university students are international. The rector pointed out in his speech, that this is a huge opportunity for the hungarian students, staff and lecturers as well, because we can learn a lot of things from each other.
Photo: Gergely Kisfali
The author of this article had such a great night amongst the 200 participants. The international students were really opened to me, we made tons of selfies, and they all said that Pécs is wonderful, a real mediterranean city full of nice people. This atmosphere can definetily strengthen the University’s will to double it’s incoming international students’ number by the end of 2020, according to the ’Modern Cities Program’.
Photo: Gergely Kisfali
Dr. István Tarrósy highlighted that it is our common interest to make our international bonds stronger in city that has such a colorful culture, history, and heritage. We have to open the gates of our country, our city and our university for those who wish to study here. This can help the 650 years old University of Pécs to be successful in the future. „Stay connected!” – ended his speech the director for international relations.
The last speeker was Mr. Hatem Azzabi, a Stipendium Hungaricum student from the Faculty of Humanities. He also underlined the importance of the rich history of Pécs. He said that Pécs has a new story at every corner, which makes the city really worth to see.
Photo: Gergely Kisfali
The speeches were followed by a standing reception which ended into collective selfie-making and posing. The pictures were made by Gergely Kisfali, and you can find them here.
But the night didn’t end here: the Baranya Dance Ensemble gave a big show with hungarian and croatian folk dances. The winners of the raffle draw could win tickets – amongst to a lot others - to concerts of the Zsolnay Cultural Quarter, or to the 2017 International Evening.
It was clearly seen the our international friends loves the UP Brass Band, and they could easily prepare the crowd for DJ Portugal, who was in charge until the end of the night.
Photo: Gergely Kisfali
What did we learn from that night?
- It worth to organize a Gala for the Stipendium Hungaricum students.
- Do NOT avoid those who come from another country, moreover, look for their company!
- Believe it or not, you can have great conversations with them, and it is really exciting how they see our world.
- The international students love to party, and they dance a lot better than me.
- You can be proud that you study at a university, that’s number one priority is to strenghten it’s international relations!
Source: http://pteehok.hu/en/news/stipendium-hungaricum-gala-at-up