^{Zsuzsanna with two of her daughters at her graduation}

Over sixty years ago, Zsuzsanna Snarey Bozzay arrived in the UK: a refugee who was unable to speak much English.

Today, Zsuzsanna is a proud mother-of-three, has just published her second book, and despite already having two degrees under her belt, is continuing her learning journey aged 77 by studying online.

“I was born in Hungary during the Second World War and experienced the terrifying bombing and shortages of war,” Zsuzsanna tells us.

“When Hungary became a Russian protectorate, my parents decided to leave the country. It was impossible to leave legally so we walked across the border to Slovakia and attempted to cross from there into Austria.”

It was there that Zsuzsanna and her family were arrested, and her mother was thrown into prison.

“I went to an orphanage at the age of eight where I waited for my father. I caught polio there and was totally paralysed for over a year. I had two operations and though I recovered, I have had to walk with a stick ever since.

“Six years later, Hungary’s borders were opened again, and my mother and I were finally able to escape. We travelled to England as refugees in 1956. My leg was still in plaster at the time. It would take another six years before my father could join us.”

A fresh start

Though Zsuzsanna arrived in England with limited knowledge of the language, with encouragement from school teachers she was able to catch up with the subjects needed for GCE. Zsuzsanna quickly became interested in all things scientific and after studying science at A Level, she chose to pursue the subject at university.

Despite not being able to attend her first-choice university, Zsuzsanna was undeterred and applied for more colleges until she was accepted to study Chemistry at the Polytechnic of North London (now the University of North London). This was where she met Michael, her husband of 54 years.

“After graduation, we got married, had three daughters and after a short spell in research I became a science teacher. I started teaching part-time when my daughters were young and carried on teaching for twenty-six years.”

Starting a new adventure

After retiring from teaching, Zsuzsanna studied Chiropody and qualified to practice from home, which allowed her more flexibility while recovering from an illness. It was at this time that Zsuzsanna began researching her family history and decided to put their fascinating experiences into words.

“My grandmother was a popular writer in the nineteen-thirties, but she died when I was six months old. I decided to translate her autobiographical novels in order to get to know her and so that my daughters would be able to read her works. This started my interest in family history and a desire to improve my English.”

To do justice to her family story, Zsuzsanna looked for courses that would help her improve her writing skills. When deciding where to study, she found inspiration close to home.

“My eldest daughter had studied with The Open University in Germany to get a PGCE and later, a degree in Chemistry. My youngest daughter was also working for the OU as a tutor in the English department. They were both encouraging me to study with the OU and my husband was very supportive too.”

Taking their advice, Zsuzsanna enrolled with the OU to study Creative Writing and describes quickly ‘becoming hooked’. She studied several modules, including Level 1 Arts and Philosophy, completing her Humanities degree in 2016.

“It was a very proud moment when I walked across the stage at the Barbican to collect my degree with my daughters and husband in the audience.”

Since completing her course, Zsuzsanna used the skills she learned to share her family’s stories with the world.

“I published two books, Escape from Communist Hungary in 2013 and My Hungarian Family in 2019. The OU courses definitely helped me. I am very grateful to the OU for all the help and encouragement of the tutors in enabling me to improve my writing skills.”

An appetite for lifelong learning

With multiple degrees already under her belt, is Zsuzsanna thinking of taking a break from her impressive learning journey? Of course not. She still studies online, completing modules on FutureLearn, the OU’s social learning platform, and is learning to speak Italian with a language school in Bologna.

Aged 77, it seems that Zsuzsanna’s incredible appetite for learning shows no signs of slowing down.