The Paris-Saclay's Got Talent association brings together students and student associations to organise a talent competition at the University of Paris-Saclay in France every year since its creation in 2018. This year, students from EUGLOH universities took to the stage to showcase their talents at the "EUGLOH's Got Talent" event, which took place during the Eugloh Annual Summit.

We interviewed Thalyta Santos, the winner of EUGLOH's Got Talent, a student at the Szeged University of Szeged holding a Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship and asked her to share her experience.

What do you study and why did you choose this field of studies?

I am a student of the Masters in International Relations at the Faculty of Law. I chose this course because I have a degree in Law, but I wanted to expand my horizons into a more International area that somehow relates to Law.

When did you start to sing?

I don't consider myself a professional singer, but I started singing as a child, in church. My sister and I were a duo and sang occasionally in church. According to my family, I was three when I had my first performance with my sister. When I was a teenager, my uncle formed a band and I was in that band, along with my sisters and some friends, but we never played professionally. It was more of a hobby than something professional.

Why did you decide to participate in the contest?

I believe that the student experience at any level of education will not be complete if we do not dedicate ourselves equally to extracurricular activities. Activities like this make us develop many skills that we don't learn in the classroom. That's the main reason I applied for the talent contest. Singing for me is stepping out of my comfort zone, facing my shyness and insecurities in public. In addition, the talent competition was going to be in Paris, a city I had never been to before but always dreamed of visiting. In the end, it was an amazing experience. I met wonderful people, and unique places and ate delicious food.

How did you feel when you won the contest?

I had mixed feelings when I heard the result. At first, I was surprised, because the other competitors were very good too. But obviously, I was very happy and flattered that the jury and people chose me. I was very nervous about the performance and I didn't think it was good enough to win the competition. But I felt extremely happy when I heard my name.

I would love to continue singing in the future, not sure yet if professionally, maybe more as a hobby. Winning the competition gave me more confidence in my talent.

What would you say to the other students of University of Szeged after the competition?

What I have to say to other students is: take advantage of the opportunities that are available to you, especially international students. We often want to do different things in our countries, but sometimes we don't have the resources or we might have many limitations that prevent us from trying different things. Explore the opportunities that EUGLOH has and that the European Union also offers to university students in the Union. In addition to developing many skills and meeting new places, new people, and new flavors, you will have many stories to tell your friends and people back home. Enjoy your time as a student because everything in life passes and what remains are the experiences and learnings we acquire from them. Do not give up. Apply for every opportunity that you think will suit you or match your aspirations and even if you get a lot of no's, persist. One day the yes will come!

SZTEinfo – Ádám Kovács-Jerney

Photos obtained from: Thalyta Santos, EUGLOH