You're never too old to learn something new

Mathias' path to studying was not quite as direct as that of many other students. He only began his Bachelor's degree at the age of 25 after training as a bank clerk and a total of six years in banking. Today, he is a teacher at a vocational college and shares his knowledge and experience with his students.

After his training, the bank where Mathias worked underwent a merger. As a result, he no longer really enjoyed working there. So an alternative had to be found. As the Sauerland native had always been active in many clubs and enjoyed youth work, he was called by the deputy headmaster of the vocational college in Brilon and asked if he could imagine working as a vocational college teacher. He liked this suggestion so much that he began his B. Sc. in Economics in 2010 and graduated with an M. Ed. in Business Education in 2015. Since then, he has been teaching at the vocational college for business and administration.

Always keeping the goal in mind

Paderborn University was actually not his first choice. However, as Mathias did not have an Abitur, he had to find a university that would recognise his professional qualification without too much trouble. "Münster would have been my first choice, but I would have had to take an entrance exam. I didn't have to do that in Paderborn."

In addition to many new things, he also learnt a lot from his training in the foundation courses. Economics was therefore a good complement to his commercial training. His training also helps him enormously in his current job as a vocational college teacher. He can not only explain the theory to his students, but also give them lots of practical advice.

However, the transition from a well-paid job at a bank to becoming a student was tough. After all, a house he had recently bought in his home town needed to be paid off. But with a few part-time jobs, this worked out and he doesn't want to complain afterwards.

And achieve his goal

He took a short detour to Siegburg for his traineeship. In the meantime, however, he actually works at the very vocational college whose headmaster called him back then. After a 9-year training programme, this is not a matter of course! Mathias teaches banking management, business administration with accounting, business informatics and information management. Even during the coronavirus pandemic, he is still able to conduct his lessons properly. In his opinion, he is even more effective than in face-to-face lessons! As his school generally always works with laptops, there is not too much difference in the teaching methods. The students can only chat less with each other due to the physical distance, which in some cases even increases their productivity.

Commitment and memories

Although Mathias always clearly had his goal in mind - to become a vocational college teacher - and completed his studies in the standard period of study, this did not stop him from getting involved at university. He joined the Wiwi student council in 2011 and was even its first chairman for two years. During this time, he has experienced and helped shape a lot. He describes the student council meetings and the subsequent regulars' tables in the Lötlampe or in Patrizia's Pinte zum "Schocken" as his favourite memories.

One of the biggest events was the move of the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics and the student councils from the C building to the new Q building. Mathias describes this time as particularly exciting, as the student councils were allowed to choose new furniture and set up their offices. He also remembers the increased contact with the faculty management as very positive.

Mathias also worked a lot with the Winfo and IBS student councils during his time on the board. The three student councils had to show team spirit, especially for the Bundesfachschaftenkonferenz (BuFaK), which took place in Paderborn in the 2013 winter semester. As one of the main organisers, Mathias describes the BuFaK organisation as an incredible amount of work. Among other things, accommodation and catering had to be organised for all participants. "It was four days with extremely little sleep, but it was definitely very successful."

In addition to great memories, Mathias also made many good friends in the student council. Even five years after graduating, Mathias is still in almost daily contact with his university friends. They meet up every year at Libori at the latest and relive old memories.

Mathias was even able to bid farewell to his Bachelor's degree programme in 2014 with the student speech on Wiwi Day. This was another big moment, because although he speaks in front of other people every day at school, he had never given a speech in front of so many people before and was a little nervous. "You talk about your studies in front of your family and mates, that's quite different from school."

Tips for other students

Overall, Mathias has fond memories of his time in Paderborn and has a few tips for other students: "Hang in there!" It's not tragic if you fail an exam, you just have to keep your goal in mind. This is especially true for those with professional qualifications, as they have simply been out of "learning" for longer.

In addition, everyone should ask themselves whether business studies is really right for them. You shouldn't study business studies because you can't think of anything better or because you don't know what you want to do later. That only leads to unnecessary drop-outs.

Ultimately, he recommends not giving up. Studying a semester longer is not the end of the world. In many professions, nobody asks whether you have completed your studies within the standard period of study.

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Mathias' time studying at Paderborn University