Sára Ivánfai, originally from Hungary, will soon graduate from Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) after a journey marked by determination and adaptation. Ivánfai first learned about the Global Student Refugee Program (GSRP), a program founded in 1946 to bring students from war-affected regions of Europe to study in the United States. Despite skepticism from her peers and advisors in Hungary, she applied and was accepted into the highly selective program, which admits fewer than 30 students worldwide each year.
“Many people, including my classmates and advisors, told me not even to try,” Ivánfai said. “They said I wasn’t special enough to be chosen. Well, apparently, I tend to prove people wrong because here I am about to graduate from GGC. Some call it delusion; others call it faith. I say it was both.”
Ivánfai described her decision to move to Georgia at age 21 as difficult but necessary. “It was my calling,” she said. “Looking back, people were probably calling me crazy. I barely spoke English, I didn’t know anyone here, and I carried only two things with me: hope and a huge blue suitcase that was definitely over the airline’s weight limit.”
Her initial adjustment period was challenging both emotionally and academically. Over time, however, she became deeply involved in campus life at GGC. “I went from being the quiet girl who doubted her place in this big world to becoming a senior resident assistant, the president of the Law Society, a Student Government Association justice, and, most importantly, part of a community that became my chosen family,” she said.
Ivánfai’s academic focus is driven by her belief in justice and equality—values shaped by her experience growing up near conflict zones such as Ukraine. She reflected on how GGC broadened her understanding of where change can occur: “What GGC taught me is that change doesn’t just happen in courtrooms or government offices. It happens in classrooms, dorm rooms, in moments of kindness, standing up for others, and in never giving up on what’s right.”
She credits her religious faith along with support from family members back home and mentors at GGC for helping her persevere through challenges. “GGC made me find my way back to myself, even being continents away from my home and family,” Ivánfai said. “I found my voice and what I stand for here and learned that the most courageous act someone can do is to become their true, unapologetic self.”
After graduation, Ivánfai plans to work as a paralegal or law assistant with aspirations of joining humanitarian or international organizations such as the United Nations.
