Why did you choose the Sustainable Tourism program at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences?
Actually, there wasn’t really a specific “why.” You finish high school and have to decide what you want to do in the future, and there’s a huge selection of degree programs. I just knew for sure that I love to travel and am interested in other cultures and languages. For example, after graduating from high school, I spent a long time in Australia and then decided that tourism was a degree program I could see myself pursuing to work in the field later on. However, tourism is actually rarely offered at public universities and mostly only as part of business administration or at expensive private universities, which was out of the question for me. And then I saw the program at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences and thought “Alternative Tourism” (the former name of the program) sounded good. I didn’t know exactly what it was, but I applied, got in, and then just went with it. Back then, the focus was on tourism, but along the way I realized that sustainability was actually becoming more and more important to me, and that in the end I was very glad it wasn’t just classic tourism management, but that the aspect of sustainability was also included.
What happened next in your career after you graduated in 2015?
First, I should mention that during my semester abroad, I did an internship in Ecuador at a language school that worked a lot with volunteers and with young people who were abroad for the first time. There, I realized that I wanted to write my bachelor’s thesis on this topic—specifically, volunteer tourism, which I didn’t view very positively. But in the process, I also discovered my passion for working with young people and supporting them as they embark on this experience abroad and take this life-changing step.
That’s why, after finishing my studies, I applied to various traditional travel agencies, including Education First (EF), which is one of the world’s largest companies in the field of language and youth travel. I didn’t have high hopes, but I was invited to the assessment center and got a six-month trainee position. I thought, “Cool, I’ll pack my bags again and go abroad once more,” since the position was in Lucerne. And that six months has now turned into seven years in Switzerland and four years in this profession.
The traineeship was in the Operations department, and I was responsible for Northern/Central Europe—primarily Germany and Austria—in terms of day-to-day operations. The job involved organizing school trips for young people with a strong educational focus. My job on the Operations Team was, for example, to figure out: okay, here’s a class from the U.S. that’s interested in World War II—where does it make sense to plan this trip, considering the hotel, transportation, various tour guides, activities, museums, and so on and so forth. So I was responsible for making these trips happen, and on a massive scale. I did that for a year and really enjoyed it.
When the trainee program ended, there wasn’t a permanent position available for my country and language, but I decided to stay with the company for the time being anyway. A position in the business travel division opened up, so I primarily worked with airlines. That was fine at first, but it wasn’t what I was really interested in. And in the end, I had to admit to myself that it didn’t fulfill me and that, from a sustainability perspective, I couldn’t justify it either. So I ultimately decided to leave.
And then I quit without having anything new lined up, because I also needed a little time for myself to go traveling again, but also to take a closer look at where I should go from here. While I was still working at EF, I had already volunteered for an organization called “Step into Action.” And when I came back from my travels, the organization was looking for someone to help establish a branch in Central Switzerland, so I took on that role. I believed in the vision and what the organization does, and I saw it as a great challenge to establish a new branch of the organization and build it up from scratch. Step into Action specializes in education for sustainable development; that is, the vision is for young people to become more engaged in sustainable development, but above all to be able to take action and to be taken seriously by older generations and supported in their efforts. We focus primarily on the area of competencies and look at what skills society—not just young people—needs to address issues of sustainable development and its challenges and to become part of the solution.
What is your typical workday like?
There isn’t one. There’s no such thing as a typical day, and that’s exactly what I appreciate so much about this job. My role is very project-based. I have a project that runs the same way every year, where I handle everything: from fundraising to project completion, including coaching and supporting volunteers, recruiting school classes, partnership discussions with school administrators, and handling communication and accounting.
This project is a three-part program for high school students focused on organizing an annual youth summit that centers on the topic of sustainable development. The goal is for them to exchange ideas with one another, reflect on themselves, and consider which topics interest them or which issues they find truly important in our society—and how they can get involved. So they go through the three-part program to first understand what sustainable development is and what topics it encompasses. Then they participate in the youth summit, where they have to do a lot of self-reflection, and then figure out, okay, how can I get active on this now. And that’s the main project—I don’t do it alone, but work with volunteers who are a bit younger than me, because our goal is for it to be a program by young people for young people. That means I mentor these volunteers so they can implement the project themselves.
And then there are always projects that run for a year or two, where I also take on a role. Often these involve communications, project coordination itself, and managing partnerships.
What do you particularly like about your job?
As I said, I like that it’s very varied, but the best part is the way we work. The organization is structured sociocratically, meaning we have no hierarchy; we work in a very self-determined and self-organized way, everyone has an equal share of responsibility and a say in decisions, and we have a very active feedback culture. So our work is very people-centered, and I find that—especially in the field of sustainable development—it’s extremely important that we live that out internally as well. I notice how much more I stand behind the organization and the projects because I simply know that I helped create them and that I have responsibility and a say in the matter. And that’s what really motivates me and fulfills me in my job.
What skills did you acquire during your studies that you can now put to good use in your profession?
For one thing, my business background also helps me in the nonprofit sector, since I have to figure out how to set up projects sustainably, handle the bookkeeping, or determine what budget I can use—and these are all things where I think the business component of my studies is a huge advantage. We also wrote a lot of term papers, and now when I have to do fundraising or write project reports, I really notice how I learned time and again during my studies to communicate very precisely and to the point and to structure things effectively.
And on a slightly more meta level: when we talk to young people about sustainable development, we often discuss questions like: What actually counts as sustainable? What are we still allowed to do, and what aren’t we allowed to do? That’s when the topic of tourism often comes up, along with the discussion of whether, for example, we’re still allowed to fly. And what we try to practice a lot is tolerance for ambiguity—or the ability to endure contradictions—and tourism is the best example of this. For example, you can’t really say outright that no one should fly on vacation anymore or that no one should go backpacking or anything like that, because tourism simply has an incredible number of positive aspects. And of course, my academic background helps me immensely in identifying the positive aspects of tourism and how we could still improve it without specifically saying that we should give up air travel altogether.
What advice would you give our students?
Looking back, I wouldn’t do anything differently. Even if there was perhaps a detour in my career, I believe everything turned out just right. I would advise students to definitely use their time in college to gain as much experience as possible. That means, for example, doing an internship during the semester breaks or volunteering. I think that’s super important because you learn so much there and get to explore different fields and career opportunities. That’s actually how I ended up finding my job. It might also help you realize what values you want to uphold, what matters to you in an employer, and when a job feels fulfilling. These are all things that might only become clear once you’ve tried things you don’t want to do anymore. That’s why I’d basically just say you should use the time to try things out and see what suits you.
And maybe I should also mention that my internship and my bachelor’s thesis were very formative for me. You shouldn’t underestimate how many doors that can open for you. My topic was “Voluntourism: The Necessity and Importance of Quality Standards,” which aimed to critically examine the potential negative impacts of voluntourism and how to address or avoid them. For this, I conducted interviews with various organizations, and through those interviews, I made great connections and built a network with people I’ve stayed in touch with even after the project ended. So internships and theses can also serve as a great springboard.
What is your fondest memory when you think back on your time as a student at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences?
I was part of the first cohort of the Alternative Tourism program (now Sustainable Tourism), and we started out in the barracks in Emmerich. When we arrived there, I thought, “Oh my God,” because you imagine student life in a certain way—and definitely not like a barracks in Emmerich. But in the end, it was really nice because the people I met first became my companions and, in some cases, my closest friends during that time. That’s my fondest memory—how it felt like a close-knit family, how you got to know people very quickly, and since there wasn’t much going on in Kleve back then, we had to make do, which in hindsight was really wonderful because it was just like a big family—we stuck together, had great study groups, and cool house parties. But also witnessing how everything slowly grew and came together. We were also part of the AStA, which had just been founded, so there were plenty of opportunities to get involved. Of course, it was challenging at times because we were the guinea pigs for everything and not much worked perfectly right away, but we still had a say in everything and could help shape things, and that was very valuable.
Date of interview: February 2023