From Guest to Host: Sara`s Lives in Pécs

This alumni story will be a little different from the others.

Usually, I am the person behind the narration, the one asking our alumni about their journeys, reading their answers, and turning their experiences into stories. This time, there will be no narrator between the story and the person telling it, because the alumna happens to be the one who usually writes these articles.

So, for once, I am turning the questions toward myself.

My name is Sara Vujisić. I come from Montenegro, I studied International Relations at the University of Pécs, and today I work at the University’s International Centre as the International Alumni and Marketing Coordinator.

But before I became the person writing about where Pécs takes people, I was simply an international student arriving in the city with two suitcases, a backpack, and absolutely no idea how much my life was about to change.

I came to Pécs to study International Relations. At the time, the plan seemed simple: study abroad, gain new experiences, become more independent, graduate, and eventually figure out what came next.

The version of me who arrived here alone was excited, but also scared, lost, and felt incredibly small compared to the rest of the world.

I expected studying abroad to change me.

I just did not expect it to change almost everything.

Looking back now, Pécs did not simply become the place where I earned my degree. It became the place where I learned how to be independent, how to trust myself, how to adapt, and how much can happen once you step outside the life you already know.

A big part of that transformation happened outside the classroom.

My studies gave me an academic foundation, but some of the experiences that shaped me most came from extracurricular activities, student projects, university events, and simply being curious enough to explore things that were not directly connected to my degree.

At the time, I did not think of those experiences as preparation for a future career. I was simply saying yes to opportunities, meeting people, trying new things, and learning as I went.

Only later did I realize how much they had taught me.

They pushed me to communicate with people from different backgrounds, take initiative, organize projects, adapt quickly, and solve problems when things did not go according to plan. In many ways, everything I chose to do after classes prepared me for my current work just as much as what I learned during them.

There was also another important part of my student experience: the help I received along the way.

Like most international students, there were moments when I was confused, unsure, or simply did not know what my next step should be. There were always people who helped me navigate those moments, whether through practical information, advice, or simple reassurance.

At some point, I realized that I wanted to become that person for someone else.

I liked the idea of being able to make another international student’s experience a little easier simply because I had once been in exactly the same position.

Still, when I graduated from the University of Pécs in the summer of 2025, staying here was not immediately part of my plan.

My next chapter took me to Palermo, Italy, where I began a Master’s degree. I was excited to experience another country, another university, and another academic environment. But moving somewhere new also gave me an unexpected opportunity to look back at Pécs from a distance.

I realized that, without noticing it, the University of Pécs had set certain standards for what I expected from a university experience.

I had become used to a level of structure, support, accessibility, and connection between students and the university community that I had previously kinda taken for granted. Palermo was a valuable experience because it helped me understand something very clearly: not every academic environment is the right environment for every person.

I began to question whether continuing along that path was more valuable to me than gaining practical experience in a field I was genuinely interested in.

Then I saw an open position at the University of Pécs.

For me, applying was not about simply returning to something familiar. It was a conscious decision to choose professional experience that I felt could teach me more at that point in my life. I wanted to see the university from the other side, work with international students, develop practical skills, and contribute to a community that had already given me so much.

After one month of my life in Italy, I returned to Pécs — this time not as a student, but as the International Alumni and Marketing Coordinator at the International Centre.

That is why I sometimes describe my experience as my two lives in Pécs.

In the first one, I was the guest.

In the second, I became the host.

Working at the university completely changed the way I remember my student years.

As a student, you mostly see the final result. An event happens. Information reaches you. Programs are organized. Opportunities appear.

Now I understand how much happens behind all of that.

I realized how much effort goes into recruiting international students, supporting them once they arrive, creating opportunities, communicating across the university, and making their experience run as smoothly as possible. When something seems effortless, it is often because many people have worked very hard behind the scenes to make it feel that way.

That realization made me appreciate my own student experience even more.

It also influences the way I communicate with prospective students today.

I remember what it felt like to be on the other side of those emails and conversations. Moving abroad can be exciting and frightening at the same time. Sometimes students do not only need practical information about applications, programs, or deadlines. They also need to hear from someone who understands what it feels like to leave home, arrive somewhere unfamiliar, and wonder whether everything will eventually fall into place.

That is something I can relate to very personally.

One of my favorite parts of my current role is telling alumni stories.

Through these conversations, I get to see where people go after leaving Pécs and how differently their lives develop. Some build careers in their home countries. Some move across the world. Some continue in academia, start businesses, or create entirely new paths for themselves.

The more stories I hear, the more I realize that there is no single definition of success.

And perhaps that lesson has influenced my own decisions as well.

A path does not have to be perfectly straight to be meaningful. Sometimes you need to leave a place to understand what it gave you. Sometimes an experience that does not work out as expected still teaches you exactly what you need to know about yourself. And sometimes choosing work over one academic path does not mean giving up on education; it simply means realizing that there may be a better time, place, or way to continue it.

My professional chapter at the University of Pécs will come to an end at the end of summer 2026, but not because my connection to Pécs is ending.

My next step will take me to Budapest, where I will begin a new Master’s degree at ELTE University.

This time, I am returning to university with a very different perspective from the one I had when I graduated. I am bringing with me not only my previous academic experience, but also almost a year of professional work, a clearer understanding of the environment in which I grow best, and a much stronger sense of what I want from the next stage of my education.

In a way, that is another lesson Pécs gave me: moving forward does not always mean leaving something behind.

Working here made me understand why so many alumni remain emotionally connected to the city long after graduation.

It is rarely only about the degree.

It is about the feeling the city gives you.

Your classmates become your friends. Certain streets become your routes home. Cafés, university buildings, squares, stressful exam periods, random conversations, and ordinary days slowly become memories attached to a particular place.

Somewhere along the way, without noticing exactly when it happens, the city stops feeling unfamiliar.

That is certainly what happened to me.

If I could meet the girl who arrived in Pécs on that first day with two suitcases and a backpack, I would probably give her two pieces of advice.

First: do not overpack. You are going to move a lot.

And second: do not be afraid to dream big.

She would probably not believe me if I told her that a few years later, she would leave Pécs, come back, work at the same university where she had once been an international student, and then pack her bags once again for another new chapter.

I do not know where life will take me after Budapest, and I have learned not to try to predict it too much.

What I do know is that Pécs has earned the same kind of place in my heart as my hometown.

It taught me that a place can be important to you without needing to be the place where you stay forever. Sometimes its greatest impact is in giving you enough confidence, experience, and sense of belonging to take the next step.

Pécs stopped being simply the city where I studied a long time ago.

It became one of the places I call home.