Jessica Mantel is studying two degree programmes in parallel, completes semesters abroad and optional internships. At the same time she has multiple hobbies and travels the world. An interview with the 21-year old.
Were one to look for one word to describe Jessica Mantel, it would be multitasking. Doing only one thing was never an option for the 21-year old student of THWS. Lately, she was in Australia for her semester abroad. In her time zone, the day was already ending. Yet, Jessica was wide awake, telling me in fast and precise sentences about how she got to Australia, what she was doing on the side and what her plans for the next months were.
Discovering the world
"I am no one to fancy one thing particularly but I am rather interdisciplinary and like to keep trying new things", says Jessica about herself and couldn't be more on point. During her school years at Gymnasium Marktbreit Jessica was a member of the school circus. Activities included acrobatics, ropedancing and fire breathing. When the teacher managing the circus retired, Jessica and some fellow pupils decided without hesitation to take on the organisation: From coordinating light and sound to costumes and coordination with school management. And all of this in addition to the Oberstufe (senior phase of German higher eduation school) and the German Abitur, which she completed with the highest grade, namely 1.0.
During this time, Jessica discovered her passion for planning and organising. For her future working life, she could very well imagine going into event management. But after completing her Abitur, she first wanted to leave home, to leave Germany. She spent one year in London working as au-pair and thus didn't only get to know life in a big city but also discovered her enthusiasm for the English language. In addition to her wish to study management, she developed the idea to study in English. She made a find at THWS: The Bachelor's degree programme International Management is taught in English and offers students the opportunity of a double degree, so graduating from the Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt and from one of the worldwide 13 partner universities. For this, students spend two semesters at the partner university abroad, and in some cases also complete their internship abroad.
To Jessica, this was the ideal combination: After completing her year as au-pair, she started her studies at THWS. The degree programme offers not only a semester abroad but also various other options for making international experiences: In the semester holidays after the winter semester 2020, Jessica and some other students travelled to Thailand for three weeks for the Summer School. "I think it really cool what THWS is offering by this, and the programme matches the degree programme really well", she says.
Looking for new challenges
After returning from Thailand in February 2020, all of a sudden a lot changed. Due to the lockdown, Jessicas hobbies and leisure activities suddenly came to an end: Already as a pupil, she had led a children's dance group, she was dancing standard dances and was member of a dance troupe, she was doing acrobatics and aerobics and tutored. Also during her studies at THWS, she stayed true to her hobbies, while at the same time working for the student business consultancy IAC in Würzburg and supported refugees by giving German lessons. Due to the pandemic, most of these things were not possible anymore. Studying was no longer possible on site either. Jessica soon realised that merely studying online did not fulfil her. "You could not do anything, no hobbies, no sports", she says. "Frankly, I was simply bored."
She thus developed the idea of starting something new. Jessica also shortly considered dropping out of her current degree programme to study medicine. But instead she decided to begin another fulltime Bachelor's programme in addition to her studies at THWS. What already sounds really challenging considering her day-to-day student life, was already a major hurdle when it came to organisation. "No one could tell me what I had to watch out for and what was possible when completing two degree programmes at the same time", says the 21-year old. "Because this case occurs very rarely." After both higher education institutions had agreed, it finally became official: Jessica was now additionally enrolled in the degree programme Applied Busines and Media Psychology at Ansbach University of Applied Sciences. "The two degree programmes complement each other well. And I was particularly interested in the aspect of psychology due to Corona", she says.
That she can now continue parallelly studying both her degree programmes on site instead of online is due to a lucky coincidence. Jessica started her first semester in the degree programme Applied Business and Media Psychology when the programme came into existence. The degree programme was thus not yet admission restricted. "In our semester, we are 400 students and Ansbach University of Applied Sciences is not designed for that many students. That is why we still have online lectures." That way, Jessica could even continue her studies in Ansbach from the other side of the world, from Australia.
But also this stay was initially being shaped by the pandemic. During her first semester at the Australian partner university, the International College of Management, Sydney, Jessica could only participate in lectures digitally from Germany due to Australia closing its borders. This meant participating in lectures in the middle of the night. Jessica had no longer expected spending a semester on campus when Australia suddenly re-opened its borders. Thus, Jessica could start her second semester on campus, and she was fascinated by the atmosphere: She talks about the university, which is located in an old monastery, and which looks like a castle. The beach is only five minutes away, the city centre of Sydney only 20 minutes. "My expectations were definitely exceeded." The only disadvantage of the partner university would be the high study fees. However, due to various scholarships, the stay could relatively easily be funded.
Home as a safe haven
Jessica wants to enjoy her stay for as long as possible. However, in Germany the next stop is already awaiting her: A voluntary project management internship with Amazon near Kiel. "I will be home for about five days after returning from Australia, and then I will move on right away", says Jessica. Returning home again and again, meeting her family and close friends is very important for the 21-year old. That is also a reason why THWS was a good choice for her. "I love travelling and getting to know new countries, but at the same time I love to return home in between."
Her parents live in a small village about 30 minutes from Würzburg, where Jessica also grew up. During her first semester at THWS, Jessica was living there. Even though she has already lived in big cities in various countries, she is happy to have grown up in the country. "As a child you can really be child, have fun and run around. If I compare my childhood with children in London, it is something completely different. You can still discover the wide world later." And that Jessica does, no question. After her internship, there are two more semesters at THWS and three more semesters in Ansbach. What her plans for the future are? "Good question, next question", she says with a smile.
![[Translate to Englisch:] Portrait Nina Kammleiter](/fileadmin/redaktion/bildmaterial/Hochschulmagazin/Autorinnen-Fotos/Ausgabe-2-1/Portrait-Kammleiter-Nina.png "[Translate to Englisch:] Portrait Nina Kammleiter")