I knew almost nothing about scholarships and had never really looked into scholarships. I assumed that I would not be eligible for a scholarship. It was only by chance that my high school coordinator told me at the end of my school career that there was a journalism scholarship from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. With my talent scout from Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences, I then looked into the subject more intensively and wrote an application because, with the career goal in mind, I was convinced of the idealistic support from the foundation.

I believe that I did not convince with a special commitment, but with what I have been doing with pleasure and passion as a volunteer since my youth. These are different things: sporting commitment as a table tennis coach, school commitment in high school, but also voluntary commitment in my home village in different clubs.

I am convinced of this scholarship because journalists receive practice-oriented training at an excellent level in various journalistic seminars alongside their studies. The JONA is by no means about promoting journalists who are close to the party. It is about enabling the often difficult entry into the professional field with this support - on the basis of democratic values and social ideals.

The Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung promotes the principle that it is not primarily about how "good" you are, but "who" you are. Good academic performance is important, but so is your personal attitude and your motivation to play an active role in our democracy and to strengthen society as a whole. To do this, we need responsible people who have expertise in their own personal areas of interest and who can contribute to society. In my experience so far, there is not much standing in the way of a successful application with this attitude.