Aileen Baumgärtner is studying Healthcare Management in Görlitz. She made a conscious decision to study for a Master's degree at the HSZG.
In our series "Your path to a Master's", we regularly introduce our Master's students in more detail and report on their reasons for choosing their very special degree course, their life in the region and their personal goals.
Aileen Baumgärtner is studying Healthcare Management in Görlitz. The native of Bautzen not only opted for a Master's degree in the border town, but also for Görlitz as her new home. A conversation about commitment, mental health and corona.
When Aileen Baumgärtner started her Bachelor's degree in Healthcare Management at the Görlitz campus in 2019, she had no idea that Görlitz would one day become her home, her real home, with the right feeling, her own apartment and a boyfriend. Now she has just finished the first semester of the Master's degree of the same name. "I kind of got stuck. I hadn't planned to study the Master's as well, it just developed over the years," says the 23-year-old. Aileen Baumgärtner is originally from Bautzen, but Görlitz is clearly the center of her life, and she intends to keep it that way.
Perhaps one reason for continuing her studies is that Aileen Baumgärtner feels a little cheated by the time she spent studying for her Bachelor's degree. " My entire bachelor's degree actually took place online because of corona," she says. And she in particular, who loves being around people and thrives on interaction and groups, didn't like sitting alone at home in front of her computer as much. "I didn't experience this normal student life that everyone always told me about!" She is now studying for a Master's in Healthcare Management and is experiencing studying in a whole new way. "Interacting, being present, being there", that's what she loves, says Aileen Baumgärtner.
At the moment, she is totally absorbed in a project that is likely to be implemented in the summer: a mental health day. The aim is to communicate health-related aspects and provide information about health-promoting activities, such as back health and targeted exercise. A topic that Aileen Baumgärtner also takes seriously in her private life.
During Corona, she found it harder to concentrate on the content of her studies. Everything happened online. "I learn more when I talk for myself and interact with others," she says.
She also does voluntary work and is involved in the student club alongside her studies. Among other things, she helps organize smaller and larger events, such as the Vogtshoffestival, which takes six months to prepare and plan. "It makes me happy when we create great events together and the visitors enjoy coming back," says Aileen Baumgärtner. Her voluntary work also helps her a lot during her studies, especially her experience in project management, coordination and group work. "For the Mental Health Day, for example, I already know how much time needs to be allocated or how to apply for funding." There are currently ten students on Aileen Baumgärtner's Master's course. "The courses should remain as small as possible so that the interactive aspect doesn't fall by the wayside," she explains. "We rely on each other, teamwork, communication techniques - all of this is important for our group structure."
Aileen Baumgärtner lives with her boyfriend and is now living a proper adult life, as she says. She has moved on with her studies and the city. "Görlitz is my home now," she says. She also used to live in a shared flat and sometimes alone in a one-room apartment. Now she feels she has really arrived. She has always earned a bit on the side to be able to finance this grown-up life. She is currently employed as a student assistant in the university's public relations department. Together with three other students, she maintains the social media channels or contributes ideas herself. "We are given the freedom and trust to create proper content," which she really enjoys, she says.
"Görlitz is often referred to as a provincial university," says Aileen Baumgärtner. "But you can live very well here. Small-town life also has its advantages - I walk or cycle a lot, so I have short distances and can get to my destination quickly. At the lake, at one of the many cultural events or in the city. I always bump into someone I know." Especially at this small university, you are taken by the hand, the lecturer contact is close, it's familiar and you know each other - for Aileen Baumgärtner, these are sufficient reasons to choose Görlitz again and again as her adopted home and the Master's degree course in Healthcare Management, which is ideal for her.
Text: Sophie Herwig
