In the afternoon of July 18, the Great Hall of the Kazinczy street building of the Faculty of Psychology hosted a farewell event for fresh graduates. Even though it was the middle of the extreme heatwave that suffocated Budapest, the enthusiasm of the participants and the organisers made it a fun and enjoyable event, with ample opportunities for networking.

The event was organised with the support of the ELTE Alumni Centre, so the first speakers were Judit Balogh-Kátai from the Alumni Centre and András Budai from the International Strategy Office, who talked about the ELTE Alumni Centre and the advantages of joining the alumni community of the university. This was followed by presentations by three of the faculty’s past graduates: Oleksandra Fomina, who graduated from the Human Resource Counselling MA programme in 2023; Lala Bakirova, who is also a graduate from the Human Resource Counselling MA programme but she finished in 2022; and Saule Anafinova, who was a doctoral student in the Doctoral School of Education and successfully defended her PhD dissertation last year. Saule talked about the ups and downs of PhD programme, while Lala and Oleksandra talked about their experiences in searching for and successfully finding a job with the degrees they obtained at PPK.

Then there was a short break when everyone had the opportunity to grab something to eat and drink – the fresh fruit on offer was understandably very popular in the heat. After the break, Eszter Knyihár (Head of the International Strategy Office) introduced the Book of Your Life project and emphasised that, despite the rampant digitalisation of the last decade(s), university libraries still play and important role as communal spaces. The last presentation of the afternoon was given by Khanh Linh Dang Hoang and Estefanía Carolina Fodor from the International Student Advisory Committee (ISAC), who introduced their organisation.

The second part of the event was dedicated to creative activities and games. Six “stations” were created at six tables, where students could sit down in small groups and engage in the activities of the station. The activities ranged from CV and job interview tips through discussions about personal experiences as prompted by Dixit cards to making PPK-themed badges. The tables were moderated by the PPK International Office and members of the ISAC. The atmosphere was certainly relaxed and fun, and the success of the event is demonstrated by the fact that the activities ended an hour later than originally planned.

Events specifically targeting graduates and alumni have been few and far between, but the PPK International Office (the organisers) aims to make this annual “party” a tradition. And it seems like this (hopefully long-running) series of events managed to get off on the right foot.