Alumni share tips

Isabella Rödl (18),

Abitur and IB class of 2017 at Phorms Campus München

My student internship with the Munich police force gave me a clearer picture of life on the beat. As an agent or police officer you are a role model in society and are expected to communicate values and standards to every citizen – and children and young people in particular. I would like to take on this responsibility in future to help combat all kinds of crime. First of all I will study information systems at the Technical University of Munich, as I need a bachelor’s degree to successfully apply to the FBI. This course should also provide me with the foundations for dealing with cybercrime.

My tip: my Maths teacher always told us that life isn’t fair. He meant that when you fail, you shouldn’t just give up straight away. You should keep pursuing your dream for the future.  

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Fiona Beckmann (19),

Abitur and IB class of 2016 at Phorms Campus München

I always knew that I didn’t want to go straight to university after I finished school, but that I wanted to strike out on my own a bit first. So I travelled to Indonesia, Vietnam and Cuba. Doing an internship at the TV broadcaster ‘Welt der Wunder’ taught me that a desk job wasn’t for me, but that I found communications very exciting. I then applied to study communications at universities in a number of different countries. While I waited to hear back, I did internships in the field of dentistry, with the ‘InStyle’ magazine online editorial team, and, most recently, at the start-up incubator ‘Media Lab Bayern’. I was overjoyed when I heard back from the universities, and I decided on Amsterdam relatively quickly. There are 53 different nationalities in my course and I’ve met some amazing people.

My tip: if you’re not sure what you want to study, I’d recommend taking a gap year. We are still so young and have time to travel, discover new things and find our own way. 

Lukas Littmann (20),

Abitur class of 2015 at Phorms Campus Berlin Mitte

I’m in my second year of political science at the Free University of Berlin. I developed a keen interest in politics as early as year 10, which I then developed at Phorms through various events in upper secondary school. When everyone was deciding what they wanted to do after school, it was clear to me that I wanted to study politics. I’ve specialised in European politics and in January 2018 I will begin a semester abroad at the University of Copenhagen.

My tip: I can only recommend to all prospective school leavers that they don’t torture themselves over the question ‘What will I do after school?’. It’s completely normal not to know what you want to do when you’re 18. For example, you can just attend a university lecture or do an internship, or maybe you will find your dream destination as you travel through Europe. Many people also say that you shouldn’t turn your hobby into a career – but why not, if you enjoy it?!