From a Budapest Student to a Tehran Student

I was wandering through the ancient exhibits at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin when memories from last year’s trips to Iran and Lebanon came flooding back. Just then, my phone buzzed—an email. It was from the University of Tehran: I GOT ACCEPTED! Oh my God! Or rather, ya khoda! as they’d say in Persian.

Bursting with excitement, I immediately called my mom. I’d been prepping her for months about my plan, but deep down, I’m pretty sure she’d been rooting against it the whole time. Can you blame her? Her firstborn had clearly lost her mind—traveling to the region occasionally wasn’t enough, now I wanted to live and study there full-time. She didn’t exactly share my sudden "great" news with enthusiasm and politely asked me not to tell my dad just yet... you know, in case he had a heart attack from the shock.

But, ignoring all the parental drama, I kept exploring the museum, my mind now completely floating on cloud nine. Little did I know that despite my acceptance, the path to Tehran's lecture halls wasn’t going to be as straightforward as I thought. But let’s rewind to the beginning.

Naturally, the question arises: why the Middle East, why Iran, and why now? Some of you know that during my university years, I developed a strong academic interest in the region, thanks largely to Dr. János Jany, one of our professors at Pázmány. While my time at university gave me that final push, the seeds of curiosity were planted during childhood family trips to the MENA region, which provided the perfect foundation for my fascination. Based on photographic evidence, it seems I’ve had this curiosity "built-in" from the start:

But simply having a curiosity about this lesser-known part of the Middle East isn’t enough to truly embrace it... Along with my curiosity, there was also an interstate scholarship that I successfully applied for. Among Orientalists, there are very few Western specialists who have spent several years in Iran—immersed in the culture, learning about the society, economy, and daily politics, traveling the entire country, and then putting that knowledge into practice. On top of that, I had the chance to study at the University of Tehran, one of the most prestigious institutions in the region, with exceptional faculty and research opportunities.

So, was it worth it? Based on the eight months I’ve spent here so far, the answer is a resounding yes! But I’ll dive into the details in my upcoming posts.