Introduction of the New Director of the Hungarian School
Translated by Elizabeth Jakab
My name is Edina Lugosi. I am the current director of the Hungarian School in Seattle.
I was born in 1983 in the renowned Hungarian hot springs spa town, Gyula. I spent my first years in Sarkadkeresztúr, a small village close to Gyula. I loved reading and adored books since I was very little, so when it came to my career path I chose to be a printer to be part of creating beautiful books.
After graduating from a trades high school that specialized in the printing industry, I moved to Budapest. There I completed my studies at the Óbuda University in print industry technical management. Besides printing, I was always attracted to teaching, so I obtained a second degree as an engineer-teacher. Following my studies, I worked my way up in the printing industry to the top position.
When I met my future husband, it became very clear that, after my career successes, I was ready to concentrate more on my private life. So when we got married I moved to be with him in the US, opening a brand-new chapter of our joint life. We spent our first few years in Brooklyn, where I started to use my second degree in teaching Hungarian language to both groups and individuals. I also became one of the teachers at the Széchenyi Hungarian School in New Brunswick, NJ. Our first daughter, Lona Kelda, was born in Brooklyn. Eventually my husband’s job took us to the West Coast, where we first settled in Beaverton, OR. This is where our second daughter, Lenke Milda, was born. While being with our kids, I continued teaching, mostly on-line and mostly one-on-one.
At the beginning of the Covid pandemic we decided that it was safer to weather this scary, new situation close to family, so we moved back to Budapest for a year. While we liked living there, we very much missed the ocean, the mountains, our friends, the atmosphere here… So at the first opportunity we moved back, this time close to Seattle, to Bothell. Very soon after our arrival I was already a volunteer teacher at the Hungarian School, then starting the second year I became the director of the school – a great joy and honor for me. I try to fulfill my position the best I can, keeping the traditions while also bringing in some fresh new points of view.
If you made it to here, Dear Reader, then there is only a little curiosity left: My husband and I lived together only in cities whose names begin with B: Brooklyn, Beaverton, Budapest, Bothell. We are eager to see what comes next… 😊