A Good Combination of Art and Languages

On my educational path from the very beginning, dedicated teachers played a decisive role – teachers who did creative projects with us in the classroom, organized excursions to exhibitions, and language trips to England, France or Italy.

I passed my first entrance exam, aged 14, at the Ortweinschule in Graz, a technical college (HTL) with different faculties in art and design. I also had to submit a portfolio of artistic work and then take a full-day creative aptitude test at the school with the other applicants.

Because I didn’t pass the artistic entrance exam for the Industrial Design course after my A-levels, I went to Belgium for a year as an au pair to improve my French and to think about what I could do afterwards.

This was followed by translation studies in French and Slovenian, then training to teach German as a foreign language, and several years working in France, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic.

In my current position at the Student Welcome Center, I can put my own experience abroad and my language skills to good use in communicating with prospective students, and I’m happiest when I can resolve students’ concerns and questions.