Anais Schicht, who grew up in Dresden, is studying social work at the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences. Her enthusiasm for working for other people and also realizing this professionally arose during her stay abroad in Peru: "I worked in a cultural center in the Andes for a year - that's when the idea of studying social work grew," she explains in the interview. She also got to know a lot of people in India, Sri Lanka and during a voluntary social year, bringing her closer to her vocation. "During my FSJ, I looked after children and young people between the ages of three and 17 who came from precarious backgrounds after school and kindergarten. I helped them with their homework, prepared their lunches and also supported them with sports and vacation activities." From time to time, Anais even takes over her own group and tutors them in math and English.

She came to Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences on the recommendation of a friend. She is also involved in social work during her practical semester at university. She explains: "I looked around for opportunities to work with people with a migration background in particular. Due to the wave of refugees in 2015, I was already giving German lessons at the time, which also contributed to my decision to study social work. That's why I worked in street work during my first internship. There were also a lot of young people who had a migration or refugee background. In my second internship, I then worked in the Cottbus city administration in the area of education and integration."

However, Anais also actively supports other projects alongside her studies: "I'm a member of feministisches*forum. This is a feminist initiative in Görlitz that has been around for almost five years now. Last year, we opened a FLINTA space, a co-working space for women, lesbians, intersex and trans people. We also offer various events, such as 'Grund Genug' - a series of events dealing with democracy, commitment and group-related misanthropy, to which we have also invited famous guest speakers such as Andreas Kemper, Sookee and the PENG collective." Anais has also been active in Foodsharing - an initiative against food waste - for two years. She also helped out at the "Frauen gestalten Welten" association in Görlitz, where she supported refugee women. She also supports the refugee network in Cottbus, which she got to know during her internship. But she also makes her contribution at the university itself by supporting the examination board.

Anais is currently focusing on writing her Bachelor's thesis. In the interview, she explains how the Deutschlandstipendium scholarship helps her to continue her voluntary work and social commitment as usual.

Text: Louisa Marko