Welcome On Board on the "Generation Intern-ship"
Ahoi comrades! I'm Laura, I’m a 21 year old from Germany. Right now I’m studying but not really satisfied with it. How many of you can say the same?
So I decided to do an internship and it brought me to places far far away. Yes I admit it, I am on board. On board of what you may ask yourself? I’m on board with a generation who are overwhelmed by opportunities and freedom to do whatever they want with their lives, but also pressured by their surroundings, parents, the job market and of course themselves.
Furthermore having a degree (in anything) today is not the same as having a degree 20 years ago. It is not said that you will get a job in your field of expertise nowadays. What counts today, is what sets you apart from the masses and that is practical experience. How do you get that? - By doing internships!
After I finished school, I had no clue at all what to do with my life. I felt like I was pushed into the open sea, and it didn't care at all about little me, I had to make it on my own in the cold cold water that surrounded me. So I decided to take a gap year like a lot of others have done. I worked for half a year in a cinema in the very south of Germany. When I had enough money together I went out to see the world. Well not the whole world, just India. But India is like many worlds in one. So I backpacked through India with a friend, starting in Delhi and then we just went on to all the places we wanted to see, there were no boundaries and no one told us what to do, it was pure freedom.
Back in Germany, I still had no idea what I wanted to do when I would be a "grown up" ( I'm still waiting for it to happen). So I just applied to everything that sounded all right to me. I got accepted in Münster for anthropology and sociology. But I quickly discovered that it's not what I wanted. So I jumped on board and set sail with the "Generation Intern-ship".
My cruise started at the Bennohaus Münster. The Bennohaus Münster is an institution for citizens who want to improve their skills, especially in the subject of media. So I started my half year of internship there, I learned how to use a camera, how to set up a good interview, how to write articles and how to edit my own interviews. It was a great opportunity to try out new things and express myself. There is also a regional TV channel which presents the reports made at the Bennohaus. I had a new goal: working in the media. But Münster is not where my sailing trip ended, no its Nasutow.
You have no idea what I am talking about? Nasutow is a small town in the south of Poland in the middle of nowhere basically. What brought me over 1000 km away from my home harbor Münster? Youth4Media did. It's an organization for young people all over Europe. They organize camps everywhere in the world so that people who are interested in the field of media can come together, and learn about this topic, during workshops and group assignments. They have the opportunity to discuss different issues, learn different types of views and get to know other cultures in the World, like in my case people from Poland, Turkey, UK and Germany. We are living in a big house near by the forest with a beautiful garden. We
also have a topic which fits perfectly: social inclusion. We have three different groups where young people with different amount of experience can express themselves. We have one group which is making a short movie, one who is doing Video Reports and one PR group, as you can imagine I am part of.
The camp is supervised by young professionals from Poland and Germany, which makes the work really fun and easy. Right now my ship is resting at the Nasutow harbor for one more week, so that I have time to learn more about media, get more practical experience, by lying here on the grass with the warm summer breeze surrounding me and doing what I love with the laptop on my knees. So I'm really happy that I jumped on board on this amazing cruise and exited where it will lead me to next.
