A blend of nations: it works!
A portrait: Lina Bofenschen, Social Coordinater at Scientific Freshers
A strange country, new lodgings, so many new faces: Leaving one’s home to embark upon a new stage in one’s life is often combined with a great deal of excitement, tension – and possibly even a little fear – but no cause to worry because our students are in good hands when they come to us! Once a young student has decided to study at a German university, our Scientific Freshers team will prepare him/her accordingly, both from an expertise and language perspective. One of our utmost priorities is maintaining the human touch: We support our future students based on a relationship of trust. They always have a contact person at their side – someone they can turn to to give them the feeling of being well cared for.
Lina Bofenschen is the first point of contact for all of our students. Not without reason is our Social Coordinator considered the “heart and soul” of the Scientific Freshers team. She is not only responsible for the social support of our international students but also for everything that needs organising and coordinating within our institute. She manages the working hours of our student assistants and takes care of the annual planning and organisation of our student excursions. She also deals with the many organisational tasks that crop up every day – be it with respect to visas, completing the formalities with the authorities or registering someone with the local community. Even before our students arrive, there is plenty to take care of to make sure that these young people manage to get from the airport to our campus. In her role as qualified social counsellor, she also supports our student assistants who live in residential groups with our students to facilitate their path to independence in their new home. She greatly enjoys joint projects and excursions. “This year, for example, we have a four-day trip to Hamburg on our agenda”, Lina, who was born in Berlin, is pleased to announce.
Lina Bofenschen has been working at Scientific Freshers since day one, and the one thing she really appreciates about her work is that it is extremely varied: “Every year, numerous nationalities come together. The mixture and atmosphere are constantly changing. However, we find that it always works – time and time again!”
An answer to every question
Lina Bofenschen’s office is open for consultation every day from 8:00-10:30 a.m.. In alignment with lesson times, her office is also open in the lunch hour. In between, the time is used to work through mails containing organisational questions. During the course of time, she has put together a combined catalogue of typical questions. When the term starts, many questions concern the search for shops or doctor’s surgeries. Where can I buy this? How can I best take care of that? As the year advances, the enquiries also change, for example, progressing to such questions as which train connection is the most suitable for visiting places. “I am happy to answer every single question”, says Lina Bofenschen.