After graduating Salutatorian and with high honors from The University of the South, Tamás conducted archival research for an exhibition on German war prisoners in the Southern United States. He then returned to Hungary for graduate school at the Central European University, where he received his M.A. in Nationalism Studies, focusing on topics concerning the Romani people in Hungary. dedicated his last days striving to empower voices and break stereotypes of people that are silenced, ignored and often times distorted by the media and everyday society. Tamás was naturally a critical thinker, a lover of language, art and human stories. Narrowing down his academic interest to the field of social anthropology, he was intrigued by the politics and rhetoric concerning marginalized groups and the ground-up initiatives by these to reclaim public space. After receiving his masters, Tamás worked for the TÁRKI Social Research Institute, where he conducted research for the European Union on ongoing initiatives for the homeless in Hungary. He then interned at the Open Society Archives and later moved on as a fellow at the renowned Hungarian think-tank Political Capital. In his free time, Tamás volunteered as a mentor at Artemisszió Allapítvány, a Hungarian organization that among other things helps immigrants in Hungary to get familiarized and adapted to the host society. His work was driven by a firm conviction that giving significance to individual stories generates the empathy that is needed to trigger an organic transformation towards an open society. Whereas the reach of his work may seem to fall short in relation to the magnitude of the vision that drove and energized him, the impressions and impact that he has left among those who crossed paths with him are deep and long-lasting. A Romani colleague and friend comments: “he changed my stereotypes about Hungarians.” Tamás will always be remembered as an ambassador for an open society, an outstanding scholar, and a loving, selfless, well-intentioned and loyal friend and human being.​

I was born and raised in Budapest. My father, György has retired from the Department of Homeland Security and my mother, Zita is a pharmacy assistant. I have a twin sister, Adrienn, who is currently studying towards her degree in Human Kinesiology at Semmelweis University. I attended the five-year Hungarian-English bilingual program of Karinthy Frigyes Bilingual High School in Budapest, where I earned my IB diploma in 2009. Early on in high school, I set my heart on coming to the United States to study, so being fortunate enough to have earned the Klein Family Scholarship to come and study in Sewanee meant a great deal to me.

I am an English major, member of the class of 2013. I started freshman year with the intent of double majoring in Philosophy and Psychology, then dropped Philosophy and finally completely switched over to English. What I really appreciated about my experience here in Sewanee was the fact that changing your mind about your major was regarded completely normal, part of the process (of course, it was harder to explain this to my parents, for whom it took some time to see my changes of heart as part of my self-exploration instead of my excessive whim). What I also valued in my academic experience at Sewanee was the fact that I could explore and take interest in subject areas I would have never considered otherwise. This is how I came to take a course in Art History and one in Cultural Anthropology and found a new fascination in them that took me by surprise.

However, not just my subject interests developed in unexpected ways, I have also acquired skills and sensibilities I have never dreamt of possessing. My freshman year I became involved with the Cinema Guild, an organization dedicated to screening old classics in the university’s movie theatre, and shortly after that I found myself learning how to thread the film in the projector and operate the huge archaic machine our theatre still uses. Since sophomore year, I am responsible for screening a movie once a week in the Sewanee Union Theatre. It was also my freshman year that I started taking violin lessons in a fiddle group. I had never taken a single music class before I came to Sewanee, so I was quite surprised but even more excited that I had the opportunity to do so here in Sewanee. I’m still taking lessons, though private lessons and I am trying hard not to butcher some Vivaldi and Haydn pieces. Sewanee has also broadened my horizon and made me more globally and politically aware. The numerous guest lectures, documentary screenings, and panel discussions one can attend here have greatly influenced me and raised my awareness of social injustice or prejudice in the greater world. I will never forget my trip to Washington D.C., where I was part of a crowd of ten thousand people that surrounded the White House, demanding President Obama to withdraw the plan of the Keystone XL pipeline.

Another amazing opportunity I had was going to Costa Rica on a service trip for ten days during Spring Break in my junior year. We worked for the Cloud Forest School in Monteverde and helped out with maintaining the school grounds, leveled out part of a trail in the forest, weeded out a small area and planted trees there. We also had lots of time to be tourists, so we visited a coffee farm, a cheese factory, went zip lining over the rainforest and rode horses down to a hot spring in a valley. For part of the trip, we all stayed with families, which gave me a little opportunity to practice my Spanish. Costa Rica has breath-taking natural beauty, delicious fruits and above all, warm-hearted, welcoming people.

One of the things I value most about my experience in Sewanee is the people I had the chance to meet. I made friends from all over the world: Costa Rica, Bulgaria, Bangladesh, France, Japan, Spain, Rwanda, Nepal, China, Honduras, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Zambia, Russia, Pakistan, and Germany. In such a setting, a regular dinner table conversation easily supplies anyone with lots to learn of other cultures. I also appreciate the relationships I was fortunate to have been able to build with some of my professors. This is how I was able to spend the summer after my sophomore year doing research funded by the university. My academic advisor, Dr. Craighill, graciously agreed to spend ten weeks of her summer reading Indian novels with me and discussing the points in the texts where the language allowed the reader to sympathize with the characters. It was a wonderful experience to have one-on-one discussion with a professor who treated me as her intellectual equal.

I am still not sure where I will be next year when I graduate from Sewanee. I am applying to a number of graduate programs in English in the United States, but I am also considering continuing my studies in Europe, especially back home in Hungary, which I do miss a lot.