I was born in 1978 in a country which does not exist anymore – East Germany. My parents were poor, and this also did not change after the wall came down. But being poor does not keep kids from exploring the world and this is what I and my two brothers did. I discovered my passion for being outdoors at a very early age – I was curious and adventurous and passionate about learning new things – and this has never changed. Only with age I got more self-esteem to ask (critical) questions and more courage to leave my comfort zone.

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Before I left my parent´s home, I started to study business administration – as my parents thought it would be the best for me and would help me to increase my financial status and not to worry about money every day. They were right with this assumption, but they underestimated how little passionate I was about doing something “just for the money”. In fact, all my female relatives worked in social fields and I wanted to work with people as well. I was always a dreamer and dreamt of the world as a brighter place for underprivileged people.

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EVENTUALLY (OR SHALL I SAY SURPRISINGLY)…

 

…I found passion in the economic field for some time. I worked in great teams and was lucky enough to have a well-paid finance job in the travel industry for quite some time. And as always – the love for the people I was working with prevented (or hindered) me of leaving my job even though I knew its not the right thing for me to do. And also – I did not have the courage to leave a well-paid job behind and go to university again for 3 or more years. Leaving a job for traveling a few months – that I had done many times. But 3 years with basically no income and no backup was frighting me too much. Until 2015 when the so-called refugee crisis started in Europe. I was volunteering with refugees at this time of my life and seeing their suffering, their mistreatment, and their hopelessness made me so angry, that I knew I had to do something about it. So, I quit my job and went back to study at an age of 38.

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I FINISHED MY STUDIES WITH A DIPLOMA OF EXCELLENCE AND WON…

 

…a reward for the best bachelor thesis in social work of the whole year of 2020 (at my university) – a nomination for a competition amongst graduates from different fields of studies. As Covid-19 was the main topic in 2020 the price went to the graduates of nursing and their vaccine research (definitively earned).

 

Upon my graduation, I started working in an organization that aims for inclusion for people with so-called mental disorders and disabilities. I loved my job, my colleagues, and my clients but my love for learning, researching, raising awareness, and seeing the world was too overwhelming to ignore – I don’t feel ready to settle yet. And this is why I am here – on the road.