(Péter Mezei) Which university are you coming from, and what did you study there?
(Zsolt Flórián) I studied History and International Relations at the University of Exeter from 2013 to 2016. So far, these years can be described as the best of my life. It was truly an amazing experience, both in regards to my studies and my social life. My studies themselves focused on a variety of topics, but most were oriented towards political science (or more specifically, my International Relations (IR) modules were). In my third year, I could choose to write my dissertation either in History or IR, and I chose the latter (my dissertation focused on the rise of the extreme-right in Western Europe in the last two decades of the 20th century).
(PM) Why did you choose the Szeged Law School for your studies?
(ZsF) The reasons why I chose Szeged are multiple. First of all, I wanted to be closer to home. I had already applied to Hungarian universities for my BA, but neither university accepted me because of their skewed recalculation of my marks, but that's another story entirely. My point is that I had already applied to Hungary in the first place. Another reason is that, as one should expect, I was interested in the program offered by the University of Szeged. As I had never studied law before within the field of IR, I thought this program could not only remedy to my lack of knowledge in this regard, but also further expand my interest for the field. Finally, other reasons include the fact that Szeged has strong ties with Exeter (which I thought was very fitting) and financial matters as well.
(PM) What training do you participate in?
(ZsF) Here in Szeged, I'm doing the Master in International Relations - Legal & Business Aspects. The legal aspects could be particularly challenging in the future, but so far I think I can manage.
(PM) What do you like the most here in Szeged?
(ZsF) I believe the most important thing Szeged gave me was the huge amount of truly amazing people I met here. It's really good food for thought, isn't it, when one thinks about how their life would've been shaped if they hadn't been in that place at that time. In short, I'm really grateful to be here, because I already know that some friendships I made here will remain important to me even after I leave Szeged.
(PM) What are you plans for the future? And do you think you can use your expertise you gather in Szeged for that purpose?
(ZsF) The toughest question is left last, I see. That's a question I've been continuously asked for the past four years. Not so surprisingly (in my experience at least), I still don't know. I'm truly interested in politics, but I don't know if I want be a politician. I know that nowadays every other person who goes to university ends up doing a PhD, but I'm not sure research is the right path for me. I love writing though, so perhaps I'll end up as a political analyst at a newspaper? I hope I'll manage to figure it out by the time I graduate from Szeged. However, I know that – unlike many others - I would like to stay here, at home. Or at least, I wouldn't move to Western Europe unless a great opportunity presented itself. To answer the second question, I would argue it's too early to say. To be completely honest, I do think the MIR program has certain flaws when it comes to teaching, but this is only the first semester (which is the one when I have the least subjects), so I wouldn't like to make any hasty judgments.
