Since I can remember; in every new grade, teachers have said, “now you’re in grade xyz, and this is where it gets serious”. My family moved around a lot and I have been to various schools in different countries including Switzerland, USA, Italy, and now Germany - and everywhere, this statement is repeated. Every year I was told this, I always thought there would be a big shift. Even though there were many smalls shifts, I never really felt different. Over the years, this phrase always made me smile. But finally, in Grade 10, I could feel a big shift, as you get to have three weeks to have a sneak peek into the adult world of work.
For one of the big projects that you do in 10th grade, the Personal Project, you get assigned a supervisor, who checks in with you and supports you. I had the luck of getting to know Ms. Zabriskie, the Middle & Senior School Maker's Lab Coordinator. Your task as a student is to persue one of your interests and create a product which you then later present. I chose to sew a "wonderbag", which is a sustainable slow-cooker, made of fabric and used as insulation. I learned this method of cooking from my mother who learned it from her grandfather, who used a styrofoam box with duvets to cook his food. I chose this as my Personal Project as it linked many of my interests through sewing, sustainability and design. During the prep and execution of my project, Ms. Zabriskie got to know me better, learning about my skills and interests and my passion for design technology.
Another portion of the Grade 10 curriculum is to find a work experience placement. The challenge includes finding work experience in an area that truly interests you. However, since my knowledge of possible professions was still based on the books from kindergarden times, where we learned about doctors, firefighters, and teachers, I did not know about a lot of possibilities. Many professions are all hidden behind the word “office work”. Ms. Zabriskie took the time to support my internship search since she knew what my hobbies were and what would interest me. She inspired me to think about a work placement in an area that connected all of my interests, linking technology with design and creativity. Together we started bouncing off ideas, and she came up with the idea that TUM (Technische Universität München) could be a great fit for this area. Since there is already an existing collaboration between TUM and MIS, we were able to follow through with this idea.
TUM is working on a large project with collaborations between different organizations, regarding 3D printing with sustainable materials like clay. The group that I got to work with, were designing workshops to introduce people my age to get to this field of technology in an approachable way. In my time there, I got a broad view of this intriguing field of technology, as well as of everything that was needed to organize this, which included the correct software, people who could operate the software, the correct proportions of material for the 3D printers, and presenting the material as appealing and approachable for a workshop group. It really opened my eyes to how much work and collaboration is behind such a project, and what a variety of different people are needed to make this happen. I learned through talking with the TUM students that many studied completely different fields and all ended up in a similar area together.
I enjoyed my stay at TUM so much, that I decided to extend my internship into the first two weeks of my summer holidays to discover more. Thanks to Ms. Zabriskie, I was able to discover a field of work that intrigues me and truly catches my interest.
It was thanks to my work experience that I realize that so much of what we are learning is very useful in the future of work.
This experience was also really eye-opening in terms of office jobs, as it allowed me to realize that there are so many different interesting fields hidden behind this word, and the only thing the word 'office job' really states is that the work is probably not something physical.
To summarize, I learned a lot through my internship at TUM. MIS will support you and nurture your interests and make you thrive in the field that you want to be in. So, choose something where your work meets your hobbies.