Tamás Ferencz
I’m Tamás Ferencz. I’m 21, and I am in a teacher-trainee programme, studying English and media-communications-film at Eötvös Lóránd University in Budapest, Hungary. My program is 6 years long, three of which we spend with gaining knowledge about our majors, then the last three are full with methodology and practical teaching.
I grew up in Barót, and I really miss my parents a lot. I haven’t seen them since August of 2020. But I really planned my university years to be spent in Budapest. And I am lucky that they agreed with me. I receive tons of support from my family, and the fact that they believe in me keeps me going.
I am living in the dormitory here with my three closest friends, others had to move home. We were lucky to get our first vaccine shots a few weeks ago. This semester is going well, although I have a lot of assignments. All of my classes are online, so it is difficult to do practical work this way. I will be “seeing” (well, online) more in-real -life children in my upcoming 3 years.
I am also doing volunteer work at an association called Hospital School, teaching English to a 12-year-old girl who is recovering from cancer. We haven’t had too many classes yet, but I see her smile pretty often, so I am satisfied with our work.
Last year, when the Pandemic hit, I joined a different voluntary group, Oktondi, University Students for Online Public Education, to help teachers as well as pupils in studying online. More than 4,000 university students volunteered in the first four days. First, I helped to collect English teaching materials, then I digitized tests, then I started to edit their Instagram page.
Eventually, I got my own project, which I admit, is a controversial one, but is indeed the best way to reach the younger pupil audience: We set up our own TikTok page, mostly focusing on educational matters. I am really proud of it! We gained more than one thousand followers, and have over a quarter million views on one of our videos. I am so hopeful that we can advance further, and help as many people as we can!
The videos are in Hungarian.
https://www.tiktok.com/@tiktoktondi/video/6828152875907124485?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1
This one says "-Do you need my literature homework? -No thanks, I have already done it. - Sorry, I forgot what I've sent. What was it? -"Do you need my literature homework?" -Oh, please!" Then she sent me her homework, and I did my happy dance. Obviously, it was all staged, but people seemed to like it really much.
This Beacon-Barót partnership lives in a special place in my heart, even though I do not know many of you yet personally. I am more than honored to be one of the students whom you are helping in their studies. I’m thrilled to hear that the Beacon scholarship will be renewed for another year. I cannot express how thankful I am to you.