\n Japan-born medical student Leesa Parkison first heard about Semmelweis University in a newspaper article during her final year of high school. She initially pursued her studies in environmental sciences but, once she realised her true calling was medicine, Leesa applied to Semmelweis.<\/p>\n
She left Japan shortly after the massive 2011 earthquake. \u201cI was at home when it happened,\u201d she recollected. \u201cWe usually have a lot of earthquakes, so at first I just thought, \u2018Oh, another earthquake.\u2019 But, by the third shake, I realized this was much more powerful than anything I\u2019ve experienced in my life,\u201d she said, adding that, luckily, her area wasn\u2019t badly affected. She watched the event unfold on television. \u201cAll channels switched to the news, so while it was still shaking, I was seeing images of the tsunami destroying everything,\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n
Just finishing up her first year, Leesa is very satisfied with her experience so far. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing, because we get a lot of practice even in the first year; we get to actually dissect, not just observe, and because we see lots of bodies and individual organs, we get first-hand experience of all the structures.\u201d Coming from Japan, this is something she can appreciate: \u201cThere is a shortage of bodies in Japan, so many doctors don\u2019t get enough practice,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/files\/2012\/08\/Leesa-Parkison_350px.jpg\" "\\"Leesa")
Interested in both clinical and research work, Leesa hopes to do both. Her current areas of interest are paediatrics and immunology, though she feels she still has a lot to explore. Although not involved in the \u00d6d\u00f6n-Kerpel Talent Support Programme, Leesa is an exemplary part of Semmelweis Univeristy.<\/p>\n
Aside from Japan, Leesa has also spent time in the U.S.; yet, it is in Hungary where she feels almost the most at home. \u201cIt\u2019s really weird, because it\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve come here,\u201d she said. \u201cHungary is a nice balance of Japan and the U.S.; I don\u2019t miss too much of either, because enough of both is incorporated here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leesa has met lots of people in Hungary, perhaps because so many come to her assistance when they see her trying to open a door in her wheelchair. \u201cI\u2019ve been in a wheelchair for around four years now,\u201d she says. \u201cI feel very independent here; it\u2019s very easy to get around Budapest.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can only do what I\u2019m doing now because of all the kindness and support of those around me, which I sincerely appreciate,\u201d she said, adding that it\u2019s important to never give up: \u201cI don\u2019t want to be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of my life, I\u2019m very hopeful about improving.\u201d<\/p>\n
Matilde Sassani Although she continues to pursue dancing as a hobby, Matilde has put her career in ballet on hold in order to be able to fully concentrate on her medical studies. \u201cUniversity is full time work, it\u2019s not possible to do both. From the second year, my schedule became very busy and classes overlapped with ballet practice, so I had to make a choice,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n The decision to drop ballet in order to focus on academics has certainly not been made in vain, as Matilde is one of just two international students to be enrolled in the prestigious \u00d6d\u00f6n Kerpel-Fronius Talent Support Programme for exceptional students. As part of the programme, Matilde has been assigned a personal mentor who will guide her in academic and life decisions.<\/p>\n After four years in Hungary, Matilde feels at home. \u201cI have a Hungarian boyfriend and lots of friends,\u201d she said, adding that her favourite place in Budapest is still the Opera House, because of all the good memories of the time spent there as a ballet dancer.<\/p>\n P\u00e1lma Dobozi and Gina Varga-G\u00f6nczi<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Semmelweis University is a truly international community, embracing students from 64 national around the world, with foreign students accounting for nearly a quarter of the total student population. Here, we introduce two of the most talented international students: Leesa Parkison from Japan and Matilde Sassani from Italy. Leesa Parkison Japan-born medical student Leesa Parkison first …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":158,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,2],"tags":[325,19],"class_list":["post-2706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","category-news","tag-community","tag-kerpel"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/158"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2706"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11490,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2706\/revisions\/11490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n <\/strong>Matilde Sassani, a 2nd year medical student, grew up in the Italian cities of Rome, Perugia and Milan. Not your typical medical student, Matilde is also a professional ballet dancer. She studied at La Scala Theatre Ballet School in Milan and the English National Ballet School in London, and has also danced with the Zurich Ballet Company. It was also her passion for ballet which brought her to Hungary, first starting her life here as a dancer with the Hungarian National Ballet Company.
\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/files\/2012\/08\/Matilde-Sassani_340px.jpg\" "\\"Matilde")
\n The daughter of a nuclear physicist and a neuropsychiatrist, Matilde had long known she wanted to pursue the scientific line in addition to the performing arts. It was, in part, an admiration for her mother\u2019s ability to help others, which inspired Matilde to enter the medical field. She chose to pursue her studies at Semmelweis University partly for practical reasons, as she was already living in Budapest at the time. However, it was the University\u2019s international renown, practice-oriented teaching and multicultural environment which ultimately decided her choice.<\/p>\n