BSME educates more than just math

Choosing to come to Budapest for a semester through BSME is one of the best decisions I have made. As a rising junior, my studies had begun to stagnate. I was feeling the senior slump since freshman year. Classes weren't giving me a better sense of "what I wanted to do with my life;" I was monotonous, dispassionate, and simply going through the motions. But BSME flipped that around from Day 1. BSME provides a safe learning environment for me to start rethinking the way I process math. I am pushed out of my comfort zone into exploring concepts that are unfamiliar and a culture that is completely new. The BSME curriculum allows me to visit Hungarian math classes and experience alternative teaching methods that we are not exposed to in the US while helping me improve my critical thinking and reasoning skills.

One of the famous Hungarian mathematicians is Posá, who developed a method called "discovery learning" where the goal is to lead students to deriving generalizations on their own through iterated problem solving. Even though only one of the BSME classes focuses on discovery learning, it has been the theme of my semester. Whether I am discovering underground pubs, a new cafe, friendships, how to cook for myself, or new math tools, I am learning in an environment where mistakes are celebrated and thinking outside the box is encouraged.