“I already founded several volunteer projects as a teenager, such as a self-help group and a school project for pupils and teachers in the field of mental health, so studying health sciences at TUM was definitely an option for me.”

My name is Jana, I'm 21 years old, I'm curently studying health science at the TU Munich in my 6th semester and am self-employed on the side. As a young person, I have already founded several volunteer projects, such as a self-help group and a school project for pupils and teachers in the field of mental health, so studying Health Sciences at TUM was definitely an option for me. As first I had doubts, as the degree programme has a large English component, but after a few semesters this didn't bother me much. I already can use the knowledge from my studies both for my projects and in my work.

Due to various chronic illnesses, I studied part of my studies autodidactically from the second semester onwards. The change to online teaching was therefore convenient for me, as I could participate in seminars that would have been more difficult to attend in person. Unfortunately, however, online teaching is also very exhausting and requires much more concentration than face-to-face teaching. Likewise online exams are also a challenge. I am very glad that many lecturers try to make the meetings as varied as possible. Despite the disadvantages, I also see many opportunities behind the switch to digital teaching - above all, I see the flexibility gained as a great advantage.

In my private life, the last year was also challenging. I coped very well with the restrictions in the beginning, but the longer this pandemic and the longer the restrictions last, the more difficult it becomes to cope with everyday life and maintaining the same energy as before. As I never had that typical student life, I'm not really missing it, fortunately, but it's the restrictions on many of the hobbies and contacts I'm so used to that are really getting to me personally. I found new hobbies for myself, had a lot of time to expand my practice, make a plan for my professional path alongside and after my studies, and was able to move forward with many of my projects.

In hope that face-to-face classes will soon be allowed to take place again, I wish for everyday study life that there will continue to be the possibility for people like me, who are often unable to attend face-to-face classes due to health reasons, to attend lectures online in order to make it easier for them to coordinate their studies and illnesses.

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