Central Europe may seem like a faraway, exotic place to most Americans, but switch the perspective around, and for Sára Ivánfai, it’s America that seems foreign. She saw the U.S. as just that as she was growing up in Hungary, the daughter of Linda, a cookbook author, and Tamás, an information technology specialist. That’s why when the opportunity to come to America presented itself to her while she was a student at the Budapest University of Economics and Business, the thought of seizing it was scary. Too scary not to do it.
In 2021, Ivánfai was in her first year of college and already a star student when a friend told her about the Georgia Rotary Student Program (GSRP), founded in 1946 so that “students from war-torn Europe, eager for peace, could come to the US and study in colleges and universities and learn about the American way of life.” The prestigious program admits fewer than 30 students worldwide each year.
“Many people, including my classmates and advisors, told me not even to try,” she recalled. “They said I wasn’t special enough to be chosen. Well, apparently, I tend to prove people wrong because here I am about to graduate from GGC. Some call it delusion; others call it faith. I say it was both.”
Ivánfai said that leaving everything and everyone she knew behind to move to Georgia at the ripe old age of 21 wasn’t easy, but she never questioned doing it.
“It was my calling,” she said. “Looking back, people were probably calling me crazy. I barely spoke English, I didn’t know anyone here, and I carried only two things with me: hope and a huge blue suitcase that was definitely over the airline’s weight limit.”
Ivánfai said that after a predictably challenging and emotional start, GGC became a place of transformation for her.
“I went from being the quiet girl who doubted her place in this big world to becoming a senior resident assistant, the president of the Law Society, a Student Government Association justice, and, most importantly, part of a community that became my chosen family,” she said.”
Ivánfai chose to major in political science and criminal justice because she believes the world needs more justice and equality, and she wants to contribute to that mission. Part of that drive comes from being away from her family for years, knowing that the war in Ukraine has been raging just a few hours from where she grew up.
“What GGC taught me is that change doesn’t just happen in courtrooms or government offices. It happens in classrooms, dorm rooms, in moments of kindness, standing up for others, and in never giving up on what’s right.” she said.
Ivánfai credits her strong faith in God for pulling her through the hard times to the finish line, and the support she received from her parents and siblings, her professors and the GGC housing and student life communities for keeping her on the right path and moving forward.
“GGC made me find my way back to myself, even being continents away from my home and family,” she said. “I found my voice and what I stand for here and learned that the most courageous act someone can do is to become their true, unapologetic self.”
After graduation, Ivánfai plans to work as a paralegal or law assistant and hopes to work for humanitarian and non-governmental organizations, such as the United Nations.