What a wonderful, beautiful, rich year! I'm not the best at writing, and doing a summary of my year in English is even harder, because I guess I improved it, but I still don't have a huge range of vocabulary. I will try do to this with all my heart, going deep to remember my memories and all the feelings I went through during this fabulous year. Those few pages are not enough to tell all what I want to say, but even with thousands of pages I would have still a lot to write about.
The first aspect of my year is my student life. I came as a student, to discover a new way to teach, to improve my English skills, leading to my personal growth.
I wasn't disappointed when I arrived in Pécs. After some issues with all the papers and the university registration, I started my year in the English pharmacy program of the University of Pécs. The first two differences with France was the number of people and the attendance. I jumped from a year group of 150 students to a small class of less than 20 peoples, where the presence was always required.
Another difference was the number of oral presentations and oral exams. I wasn’t used to it, I had only written exams since three years, and only some few oral exams or presentations in high school. It was totally new for me and I was a little bit stressed about it, but finally it went well. It was a very good exercise, where I could improve my English skills and my self-confidence. I will always remember the day I had to do a thirty minutes presentation about the mechanisms of obesity in front of all my classmates! When I finished I realized that my English skills were good enough to do so and I was so happy!
During this academic year, the only thing which was missing was some mock exams to train at home for the real exam. I was used to that kind of training in France, and it was very useful to check what I knew and what I should focus on. It is also another way to learn.
Furthermore, thanks to those tiny classes, I had the opportunity to be close and well- known from my teachers, which were always kind, helpful and benevolent to me. It was something new and very appreciable.
Thereby, I want to particularly speak about my pharmacognosy teacher, Mrs Györgyi Horváth, who welcome me with open arms. During all the year, she was always attentive to me and all my classmates and she guided me during the whole year.
I also want to quote Jon Marquette who was a remarkable teacher, and as well a kind of mentor to me. He taught English with lightness and goodwill, but also how to find my way through the University and Pécs. Through his open-mind, his huge kindness and his outgoing temperament, I discovered a new way to think and to see the world.
Meg valamit? Hungarian class!
I had the chance to follow a Hungarian language class. Indeed, it was a beautiful opportunity to be immersed in the Hungarian culture, because all my life was in English. There, I have learned a lot about the culture and the language of my host country, which was a very important issue to me. The way to teach, as well as my teachers were incredible and I truly appreciated it.
Thus, the student life was very good, I really enjoyed being a student in this University.
The Szanto Kollégium was my home for this year. In that dorm, I have learned to share my bedroom and the flat with girls from other countries and so, other cultures. It wasn’t easy all the time, but I spent a lot of good moments there. With my three flat mates, we learned to listen to the needs, culture and education of each other, and we built a very warm friendship. They became my new family; you don’t choose them but you love them and you do all your best to make the relationship great.
The second big aspect of my Erasmus year was the social life. I met a lot a new people, from so many countries. I discovered new cultures every day, new way to think, new way of living. With all this amazing melting-pot that Pécs offers, each new person is interesting and has a lot to teach you.
With different people every time, I travelled in Europe. I could visit countries I have never been before, and each trip was wonderful and different. I will never forget driving to Romania at the beginning of autumn, the car full of wonderful people, with such a beautiful landscape! The Sisi apartments, the asymmetric cathedral in Krakow, the Prague parks, the little streets of Bratislava et its excellent food, the Plitvice lakes in Croatia, Berlin Wall, Munich’ beers are memories which are deeply and forever in my mind. Those trips in excellent company gave me the opportunity to develop my general and geographic knowledge. I’m going back to France with a lot of new ideas and much more open-minded.
In Pécs, thanks to the Erasmus Student Network, my weeks were rhythmed by the country presentations. It was a very good way to learn more about some countries, taste their national food and to meet new friends.
I really loved the International Evening, with its amazing show. I was so impressed by the talent of students!
I also went to the Medikus Cupa, which was amazing as well! I really appreciated this sport competition between the four Universities of Hungary. The organization was well-done, and I was so proud to scream “Pote ole” with my blue-green T-shirt!
In conclusion, this year was so rich, I grew up so much. I understood a lot of things, like the importance of the European Union, how the History of a country can influence the politic and the way of thinking. I learned to not judge and to understand. I will recommend to anyone to go in Erasmus, and if they have to opportunity, to go to Pécs! I guess now is the time to answer the question in the tittle: “Why Pécs?”
Mert Pécs egy gyӧnyӧrű varos, Del-Magyarországon. Nagyon szép és csendes a kӧrnyék. Vannak itt erdekes éttermek, Mécsek hegy, elég jó egyetem. A tenger sajnos nincs, de Orfu van. Szomorú vagyok, mert egy évet lakom csak itt.
Kӧszӧnӧm szépen!
Adrianna Burtin Pharmacist student from Bordeaux
Academic year 2016 – 2017