Lukas's ASU Summer Experience 2024

METU student exchange experience at Arizona State University 

On 2 May 2024, Budapest Metropolitan University (METU) has entered into a landmark partnership agreement with Arizona State University (ASU), becoming the first and only Hungarian university to sign a long-term partnership agreement with them. ASU is ranked among the top 1% of universities in the world according to the Center for World University Rankings 2023-2024. The partnership brings additional know-how, innovation, international experiences and opportunities for Hungarian and international students studying at METU. 

In July 2024, three METU students have been selected to participate in Arizona State University's summer program – which has been a significant event not only for them, but for our entire university, as they were the first - but by no means the last – of our students to travel to ASU. 

Curious to hear what it is like to travel to the U.S. and join a summer program at ASU?  

Here are the experiences of International Relations Bachelor's METU student Lukas from his visit to Arizona State University’s summer program! 

I did really like the Summer Experience; it was a great opportunity to learn about and experience American culture. The flight to the US was long but not bad; everything worked out fine, and we had no trouble checking in or at security control. 

On Monday, the first actual day, we got an introduction and a tour around the ASU campus. This was very good and helpful because the campus is so big that you can easily lose your way. The teacher was nice, showed us around, and explained a lot about the history and goals of the university. 



The next day, we started learning about sustainability and had guest speakers. This was very informative. The presentations were easy to understand, and the presenter could answer every question asked

The next day was the trip to the Grand Canyon, which was my personal highlight. The Grand Canyon was beautiful, and it was an experience I will never forget. 

On Thursday, we had some more presentations and speakers; those were as good as the first ones, and they had a lot to say about very interesting topics. On the same day, we went into a VR- game. This was the first time that I used VR, and it was exciting and very entertaining. 

On Friday, we had the competition, in which we did not participate, but we listened to the presentations about various topics. It was very interesting how every person tries to change the world and tries to be more sustainable. 

My main takeaway is that the trip was fun. I made a lot of new friends from all over the world, mainly Latin America, and I learned a lot about sustainability, like the UNESCO and Sustainable Development Goals, and how I can have an impact by taking care of what I buy and by being responsible. 

I don’t think there were that many challenges; the main one was the weather. It was unbelievable hot in Arizona, with temperatures up to 50 °C, and that was way too warm for me. This was the only challenge I could think of; the rest was perfect, from the teachers to the students and the environment that we learned in. 



All in all, the ASU Summer Experience was a fun opportunity to not just learn about sustainability, but also to experience American culture in all its facets. I can only recommend the experience to everyone who is interested in traveling and learning something new. 

Would you like to gain experiences like Lukas’s? 

Be part of Budapest Metropolitan University’s international community, study in the heart of Europe and enjoy the benefits of our partnership with ASU and 200+ other universities worldwide! 



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