At the 67th Graduation Ceremony of the Faculty of Agriculture we were able to welcome ninety recent graduates, 32 of whom received their diplomas with an excellent rating.

The ceremony began with the presentation of faculty awards and honorary titles.

The Council of the Faculty of Agriculture awarded the honorary title of "Honorary Citizen of the Faculty" to Andrea FEHÉR Ph.D., associate professor of the Faculty of Management and Rural Tourism of the King Mihai I University, Timisoara.

Katalin HERBICH-MÉSZÁROS, head of the Department of Studies Office, received the Pro Facultate award on the proposal of the head of the Dean's Office, as a sign of recognition and appreciation for her many years of outstanding activity on behalf of the Faculty.

Vanessza Klára GARABUCZI, an undergraduate student in agricultural engineering, and Afiqah Izzati Binti SUNDUSIN, an English-language undergraduate student in agricultural engineering, also received the Discipuli Pro Facultate award.

Edina GÁLIK, an agricultural engineering undergraduate student, Anita GYOVAI, an agricultural engineering undergraduate student, Diksha MISHRA, an English-language agricultural engineering undergraduate student, and Aisha Adan JALDESA an English-language undergraduate agricultural engineering student, received the Dean's Certificate of Commendation among the graduating students.

Two of the Faculty of Agriculture's teaching-researchers and colleagues working in functional areas received the Dean's Certificate of Recognition.

Among the teaching and research staff, on the recommendation of the head of the Institute of Plant Science and Environmental Protection, Adrienn SZARVAS Ph.D., assistant professor at the Faculty's Institute of Plant Sciences and Environmental Protection, and Viktória MOLNÁR, international administrator of the Faculty's Dean's Office, received the Dean's Certificate of Recognition from among the colleagues working in the functional area - at the suggestion of the head of the Dean's Office.

At the ceremony held at the Bessenyei Ferenc Cultural Centre in Hódmezővásárhely, Edit MIKÓ Ph.D., dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, was the first to welcome the attendees.

„We are in the fortunate position that a degree in agriculture is a highly sought-after profession. Our students can find employment in a very wide range of fields, starting with traditional plant growing and animal husbandry, even in the banking sector, but also in various offices, specialists who understand what is happening in agriculture are needed. There are those who will become entrepreneurs and those who want to continue their studies. Many people apply for an MSc course after completing their bachelor's degree, but there are also those who do not immediately decide to continue their studies, but first try themselves on the labour market, and then we meet again in the corridor after a few years, that person returned to us because it was good to study with us. Our oldest recent graduate is 59 years old. The university is also open to the older age group," emphasized the importance of life-long learning Edit MIKÓ Ph.D., dean.

After the engineering pledge, Professor Klára GELLÉN Ph.D., vice rector of education at the University of Szeged, handed over the diplomas to the dean of the USZ Faculty of Agriculture, welcomed the recent graduates as engineers with a handshake.

At the ceremony, the bachelor's degree in agricultural engineering (in Hungarian and English), the bachelor's degree in wildlife management, the bachelor's degree in agricultural engineering in rural development, the specialized further training in agricultural valuation, the specialist further training in precision agriculture, the specialist further training in wildlife management, the master's in agricultural engineering and rural development, and the students who graduated from the plant protection specialist further education program could receive their diplomas. Professor Klára GELLÉN Ph.D., the Vice Rector for Education at the University of Szeged, was the first to congratulate them on their graduation.

"Your qualifications are different, but you all have one thing in common in your future, your chosen profession, in agriculture, you can make use of all the theoretical and practical knowledge you have acquired, all the dedication you have come to our university with, or that was really formed during the university years. When the average person thinks about agriculture, although they think of land, machines, and animals, they don't always think about their true value and operation. They don't even think about what is behind the processes, what kind of superhuman work and what excellent professionals. This is rarely discussed, even though without your work there is no life, no health", said Professor Klára GELLÉN Ph.D., vice rector of education.

Peter MÁRKI-ZAY, the mayor of Hódmezővásárhely, also congratulated the young people on getting their diplomas on behalf of the city, thanking the parents for their efforts. He stressed that he is proud of the fact that Hódmezővásárhely has a long history of higher education in agriculture.

Agricultural engineer Luca BUKNICZ spoke on behalf of the graduated Hungarian students, and agricultural engineer Afiqah Izzati Binti SUNDUSIN on behalf of the graduated international students.

14 of the graduates are international students, they took the expertise they acquired at the USZ Faculty of Agriculture home to Laos, Malaysia, Vietnam, India, China, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and Colombia.

"I graduated with a bachelor's degree in agricultural engineering, because I think, it is extremely useful from the point of view of feeding. At home, in Nigeria, my family has been farming for a very long time and I am very interested in this area, including tractors and mechanical engineering, which is how I came into contact with agriculture," said agricultural engineer Philias Onyekachukwu MMAKA.

"I am from Békés County, I graduated as an agricultural engineer and animal breeder. I was able to study in Madrid, Spain with a six-month Erasmus+ scholarship. The IAAS international organization is available in more than fifty countries. We started the establishment of the Hungarian branch in Hódmezővásárhely. I also participated in various events with them in many places, in Italy, Switzerland, and Croatia. I spent three and a half years, seven semesters at the Hódmezővásárhely Faculty, after which I would like to work abroad, in small farms” – said Edina GÁLIK agricultural engineer.

At the event, Barbara KONCZ, a former student of the Faculty of Agriculture, sang, and József BUGYI played the guitar.