Interview with Theresa

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Område: Fyn - Andebølle Ungdomshøjskole

Theresa Steinke, from Germany, has been a volunteer in Andebølle Ungdomshøjskole in 2009. Since she came back for a short visit last week, we had the chance to ask her few questions about her experience in Denmark.
In 2009 you decided to be a volunteer and you worked in Andebølle during 12 months. How did you come to this decision and why did you choose Andebølle?

Right after my graduation, I started to think about going abroad for a while, perhaps to live and work in the U.S. at the end of my last year of high school. Unfortunately, I had no money to realize this dream so I started to consider one of the Scandinavian Countries as a possible destination. I always liked this Countries for many reasons so I decided to send my application to a project of the European Commission called EVS (European Voluntary Service). After some research in the Internet, I sent 3 applications: 2 to Sweden and 1 to Denmark. Andebølle was the first project to answer so I decided to go there and work in the school. I’ve been there one year, since August 2009.

What were your tasks in the school? Was this period in Andebølle important for your career and for your personal development?
I helped in the office and also in Film and Media class, because I liked the subject. I had the possibility to attend Music class and I also worked together with the students to realize a “Bluebook”. Furthermore, I has to take pictures of the students during classes or activities. I’ve always had a passion for photography, but this became something more during my stay in the school. I learned a lot about photography and editing processes in Andebølle and in that period I started to think about becoming a professional photographer in the future. When my year as a volunteer ended, I went back home, in Germany, and I got an Internship in a Photo Studio. At the moment I am learning how to edit pictures, how to use lights, how to shoot outside, and so on. I am really happy about this Internship but, at the end of it, I am thinking about sending applications to Danish Universities so I can come back and study in Denmark. We will see…

Was your volunteering in Andebølle a turning point in your life?
For sure. Living in Denmark, being in the school, working with the staff and with students from all over the world, all this changed me a lot. Everything was pretty awesome and I have only good memories of my 12 months in Denmark as a volunteer. Being in Andebølle makes you feel more “international” and more open; you can meet a lot of young people coming from so many different Countries… it is a special place. That is the reason why everybody is coming back again, even just for a couple of days. I came back just for a weekend to meet my old friends and to see the teachers again: in this days we had a lot of fun and we even recorded a song, to have a memory of this reunion. It was really great!

Lucia D’Addezio