A few months have passed now and I have used the summer break to regenerate, travel the world and even keep my fingers crossed for the athletes at the Olympic Games in Paris. At the same time, after the season with the DSC, I achieved another personal goal for myself and successfully completed my master's degree in media and communication management. For this reason, I would like to introduce you to another topic area for young athletes after school:
Decision-making for a career after sports
For many athletes, it is probably the most nerve-wracking but also the best time of school: the Abitur. It marks the end of the school career and at the same time, with the Abitur exams, the daily training program and the numerous championships on the calendar, the question arises: what's next? Sport and school? What do I want to learn? How can I best combine studying and sport? Do I even have to study?
In fact, it is not that easy to choose a specific direction for the time after school. In my opinion, there is no right or wrong here and the range of digital courses has increased significantly compared to when I was there. Many athletes usually do not even know which course they want to enroll in and usually take a year off to focus 100% on sport. Looking back, however, I can say that I can absolutely recommend starting a distance learning course straight after school. This gives you a good overview of the course content and a feel for your own time management, which is absolutely essential in distance learning. If it turns out that the course of study is not right for you or you just don't enjoy it, you will have collected credit points by taking written exams that can possibly be credited towards your next course of study.
Distance Learning Universities at a Glance
The past has shown that almost all players have completed their school career with a high school diploma. Most players then decide to study online from home alongside their daily training. The courses we players choose actually vary and this usually results in a colorful mix of subjects such as business administration, media and communication management, pedagogy, nutritional science, sports management and psychology.
Overview of popular distance learning universities among us athletes:
1. SRH Fernhochschule – The Mobile University ( https://www.mobile-university.de )
2. IU International University ( https://www.iu-fernstudium.de )
3. FernUniversität in Hagen ( https://www.fernuni-hagen.de )
4. WINGS distance learning course at Wismar University of Applied Sciences ( https://www.wings.hs-wismar.de )
5. DHGS German Sport University for Health and Sport ( https://www.dhgs-hochschule.de )
6. IST School of Management ( https://www.ist-hochschule.de )
My combination of direct and distance learning
Apart from the fact that playing volleyball is my job and that we athletes, because we have permanent employment with our club, receive the same salary as any other employee, the question often comes up: What do you really do? Have you learned anything else besides sport?
In fact, it wasn't an easy time back then. When I decided to move to the school and performance center in Berlin after the 10th grade, this question was postponed for another three years. However, I still know today that I would have loved to train as a travel agent - well, what can I say, nothing came of it!
After graduating from high school, at least a few doors were open to me and I had the chance to attend a university or college. However, I decided to study remotely so that I could concentrate fully on volleyball and the summer with the national team.
I quickly realized that I had massively underestimated the time required, as well as the handling and classification of the study material and the conduct of the exams. It was clear to me at the time that if I wanted to have an academic degree, I wanted to try to do this through a full-time course. No sooner said than done. When I moved to Schwerin in 2014, I also attended the university in Wismar and studied business administration there. The time and travel required between training units was enormous, but the full-time course gave me a better impression of the study material and I had nice fellow students and professors to contact who supported me with questions, exams and the necessary material. In 2018 - after four intensive years - I held my degree in my hands and at the same time celebrated the German championship with the SSC Palmberg Schwerin.
With the experience I had gained from the direct study, I decided to study again two years later. This was followed by the master's degree in media and communication management at the SRH Fernhochschule - The Mobile University. Influenced by the corona pandemic, many distance learning universities expanded their online offerings and made it possible to take exams online using video conferences. This was of course an absolute game changer for us athletes, as we were often unable to take any exams on the weekends due to match days. At the same time, you can book the exam dates flexibly, so that I put the books aside during stressful training weeks or in the play-offs. Looking back, I would choose distance learning again and again.
My tip for all students
One last tip: Feel free to exchange ideas with your teammates and get tips on how to carry out the exercise and how to use it. Long bus rides are ideal for this!