Zoltan Hajnal: 'I have a foothold in Eindhoven'

Zoltan Hajnal, a student of International Business in Eindhoven, came to the Netherlands from Romania in 2017. Full of energy he follows a honors programme and is busy with work, his own company ánd a special sport.

"Living in Romania it was my wish to study abroad and that's how I ended up at Fontys. In the beginning I was planning to go back to Romania after my studies, but that's not an option anymore.

I have many friends here and a foothold in Eindhoven. Moreover, Romania is a country with few opportunities. When I was there on vacation this summer, I noticed that most of my friends were abroad. Those who have stayed often work for foreign companies.

The International Business studies that I am now following at Fontys is a bull's-eye for me. I'm doing the honors programma and at the moment an internship at Philips Lightning, which is very interesting.

I also run a removal company with two trucks, together with a partner, and I work part-time for High Tech Talent. Everything runs like clockwork, actually. I'm not someone who focuses on problems, and that in itself makes you succeed more often than not. 

My plans for the future? Mainly to make our moving company successful. And to learn the Dutch language. I would like to become a Dutch citizen and that means you have to live here for five years ánd speak Dutch.

For the short term I am mainly busy with whether I can participate in the Championships Handwrestling in Germany in December, and that Covid-19 will not interfere. I always loved to sport and came into contact with this sport a few years ago and turned out to be good at it. [Petra Merkx]