Byanca Szabó Peredo

Study program: International Relations BA

Country: Bolivia, Plurinational State of

Period of studies at ELTE: 2023.09.03 - 2026.07.15

Hello! My name is Byanca Szabó Peredo. Aside from university, I love to enjoy life in a variety of ways. I really love music. If one were to ask me which type of music I like, I would tell them all types. From old to new, any kind of music makes my heart feel complete. This is why I can never leave the house without my headphones to listen to some music while I commute to university. On that note, during pandemic, I started to play the ukelele, and now, i am able to play quite a few songs on it. I can say that my whole love for music stems from my family, specially my father who has an excellent taste in music. On another matter, one of the things I really like to do is to explore the greatness of Hungary. I have visited quite a few towns and wish to explore some more here and elsewhere as well!

What stood out to you about ELTE?

The main thing i looked for when searching for universities to apply was their prestigiousness. Mainly i found these in the world-wide rankings for the best universities. I instantly noted that elte was considered one of the best in hungary, with quite a good ranking in the whole world. This is what appealed to me the most.

What makes studying at elte so great?

How flexible they are by offering students different programs without one needing to know how to speak hungarian. For most of the programs, one can find both the english and the hungarian versions. Ultimately, this allows for a greater diversity in the classrooms with people coming from all over the world.

What are / were your challenges in your study program?

My main challenge when Ibegan my studies as an international student was getting used to the grading system applied here. This simple difference can make things a bit difficult in terms of understanding and predicting how the professors will view one’s work. Another issue I struggled with was figuring out how to keep up with the content advanced in classes. In the beginning my notes were not structured and clear which made it quite difficult to study from them for the exams.

How did you overcome these challenges?

As for the grading system, I realized it was a thing I had to get used to. With time, I could understand what the professors are asking from me and how I can perform the best way I can. One thing that helped was speaking personally with the professors to ask them about what will be graded and which topics one should focus on. As for the notes, I tried different methods. In the first semester, I tried out the classic way of taking notes: with a pen and a notebook. During class I would take messy notes, not quite organized. After class, I would rearrange these notes and pass them to the notebook designated for the subject. One challenge I saw with this is that I could not keep up with the things I had to do overall, so I often left the messy notes unattended until the end of the semester. Overall, these would accumulate and in the examination period I was more focused on rewriting my notes, believing I could study well from doing just that. Reality was that I could have done better. The next semester, I used my ipad to take notes. This worked in a similar way, but now my notes were digitalized. I did not need to take all my notebooks in my backpack, reducing my back pain. In addition, it was easier for me to find a specific concept by simply searching it up. The issue was that it took time away from doing things I should have paid more attention to. Ultimately, during exams i had to deal with rewriting my notes. Nonetheless, now i have resorted to taking notes on my laptop. I found this quite useful because it combines efficiency, spending less time on the format, with digitalizing them for rapid searches.

How would you describe ELTE in three words?

Encouraging, beneficial, diverse

How do you think your degree will help you in your life and career?

I believe that a degree in international relations will prepare me in many areas. It is known that this career can focus on a variety of subject raging from history to sociology to even economics. Overall, it will allow me to grasp what i would like to delve in deeper in the future and to decide which field of labor i would like to become part of.

Do you have any recommendations for future students at ELTE?

My recommendation for future students at elte is to not be scared to ask for help. When i first arrived i was quite scared of asking for help, and sometimes i still am. Slowly but surely, i am learning to accept that i cannot do everything by myself, specially with this language barrier. Asking for help is sometimes better than staying silent or not doing anything. Contact people who you know have gone through a similar situation because they will be the ones to advise you the best. However, i would also recommend to not be scared of asking your local friends to assist you in administrative, bureaucratic, or medical processes. And remeber that there are various organizations within the university focused on international students, so you can reach out to us anytime!