"At TU Dortmund University, I learned what teamwork really means"

Why did you study at TU Dortmund University?

There was, and still is, a very unique combination of subjects at TU Dortmund University, and that appealed to me. When I started looking for a degree program, I was not quite sure what I was going to do, but I knew that I loved languages and absolutely had to do something with languages. At TU Dortmund University, I found the degree program Applied Linguistics, and there were a crazy number of subject combinations. During the orientation week, I decided on engineering as a complementary subject. This is - I think - unique in Germany and is only offered in this form at TU Dortmund University. I have never regretted moving from Emsland to Dortmund for my studies because it really opened up an incredible number of doors for me.

How did your studies shape your life and career?

There were several extremely important aspects which played a role. For one thing, the special combination of subjects made me interesting for employers after graduation. Secondly, there were great part-time jobs at TU Dortmund University. Among other things, I worked for a long time at tu>startup, the startup initiative of TU Dortmund University at that time, from which today's Center for Entrepreneurship and Transfer emerged. I was allowed to take on some great tasks there. While I was really thrown into the deep end at times, I learned a lot as a result.

In addition, the part-time jobs offered by the university were also very easy to combine with my studies. You could earn money and gain experience at the same time. I managed to build up such a large network that one part-time job led to the next, because I was recommended to others.

How did your career progress after graduation?

After graduation, I spent three years living and working in Indonesia's capital, Jakarta. There, in 2018, I organized the 16th Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business as a project manager - the largest German business conference abroad with 1,000 participants. The focus is on the C-level of German business and from Asia-Pacific companies, i.e. CEOs, CFOs and CTOs, as well as high-ranking politicians. In this context, too, my studies clearly helped me, because at university you learn to prioritize and answer the question: What is my task right now and how do I divide the big project into smaller steps? For the organization of this conference, I also benefited from the fact that I learned at TU Dortmund University how important teamwork is and that everyone has to get involved when there is something important to organize - regardless of who has which position in the team.