On the home stretch 🏁

Hello - my dear friends! 😃

At the beginning of the year, I always have a lot to do from university. That's why there hasn’t been much to share so far. Especially since I am currently deep in the preparations for my bachelor's degree. But let's catch up quickly! 😉

I celebrated Christmas at my aunt's. My sister also came. I found that very nice! 😊 Unfortunately, she had to leave again on Christmas Day.

On that very day, I also drove with my aunt to refuel in Czechia. Everything went quite well until the point where we accidentally poured the freshly bought antifreeze into the radiator instead of the antifreeze reservoir. 😅😬 Unfortunately, we couldn't continue driving, and the car had to be towed. That wasn’t great because I actually needed the car to pick up my parents in Frankfurt on December 27, as they were in Germany for New Year's Eve. After a few conversations with the insurance, it became clear that I needed a rental car. However, I had to pick it up in Bayreuth (1 hour from Selb).

So, on Christmas Day, we drove to Bayreuth to pick up the rental car, while my car was parked in front of a workshop and couldn't be repaired until the following Monday. From Bayreuth, I then drove straight to Ansbach with the rental car (a nice black Skoda Karoq) because I was already halfway home. I spent Boxing Day in the shared apartment.

On December 27, I left at 4:30 a.m. to pick up my parents at Frankfurt Airport. That place is really confusing. 😅 Anyway, my dad had to drive from Frankfurt because I hadn't really slept the night before and had already been driving for 2.5 hours.

When I arrived at my brother's place in North Rhine-Westphalia, the reunion was huge. We celebrated Christmas late and also went out to eat together. ☺️ Afterwards, we couldn't miss a visit to the Dortmund Christmas market. 🎄 We also celebrated New Year's Eve together. 🎇

Let's move on to the events of the new year. My aunt and uncle were visiting my brother. I immediately took the opportunity to interview my aunt for my bachelor's thesis. My friend had to participate too. 😂 I think she enjoyed it. 🥰 I also went to the cinema with her. We watched the new Stromberg movie. Little spoiler: It’s not as good as expected. 🥲

My other aunt also came down to bring me my car and take the rental car back. It had to be returned. On January 3, we (my parents and I) drove back towards Ansbach.

On January 4, my parents had a missionary talk at my church. Yes, after that I was without a car for a week, or partially without a car, because I borrowed a car from someone in my church. 🚗

During this time, I had only one focus: studying for my media economics exam. I had that on January 16. On January 21, I had my last assignment in my major module. We were supposed to introduce someone who works behind the scenes. I introduced an event manager in a 10-minute podcast. Here’s the link to listen to it. https://meinpodcast.de/journalistin-auf-mission/backstage-frequenzen-unsichtbare-arbeit-sichtbar-machen We also had to create six social media posts.

What have I done since then? Conduct interviews, conduct interviews, and conduct even more interviews. 😂 All for my podcast on the topic of friendship relationships with generative AI. I am researching the extent to which podcasts influence opinion formation on emerging topics. For this, I have already interviewed a professor who teaches generative AI at Deggendorf University of Applied Sciences. On February 10, I will interview an AI manager who advises companies on how to use AI wisely. So I'm making good progress! 🥳 I didn't think experts would agree to talk to me so quickly.

I also work from time to time. However, I will probably switch to part-time working in May. Life is becoming too expensive. 😆 I’m supposed to close the store now. For us, that means being alone in the store for the last hour and then completing the tasks that remain at the end of the day. That will take some getting used to.

Just a little story that happened to me recently: I wanted to re-register my car in my name, but then I realized that the vehicle registration document was missing! 🙈 I thought about when I last saw it and asked all involved parties. Until I figured out that maybe the workshop in Selb forgot to put it back in. When my aunt called and they said it wasn't there, my heart started racing. 😂

I prayed to God and told Him to show me where the darn vehicle registration document had gone. I found myself worrying and decided to trust that it would appear again. Shortly after, my phone rang and my aunt shared the joyous news that it was at the workshop after all. We just need to hand over our worries, and God takes care of the rest. ☺️ Even though the document first went to North Rhine-Westphalia, to my brother before I got it (because the car was still registered there), I was so grateful at that moment that it hadn't been lost. 🙏🏻

A little preview: Next week, I will have my bachelor's seminar. The week after that, I have the interview as mentioned before. On February 15, I will carry out the first study. For that, I will travel again to North Rhine-Westphalia for a few days. 😊 On February 22, I will perform the second study, and then I just have to write, write, write… ✍🏼 Fortunately only 20 pages because I am already preparing the podcast.

And since I am not tied to one place for writing, I will be going back to Namibia to see my parents on March 1. ✈️ Awesome, writing my bachelor thesis at 30 degrees and sipping on a sundowner in the evening. ☀️🍹 I am looking forward to it! 😍 You have to make it bearable somehow. Right now, it's very stressful because the two podcasts have to be done and I need to have finished the study by then. Have you ever put yourself under pressure like that? It's not good! 😂 So my personal deadline for the bachelor thesis is May 1 (funny, that's Labor Day). As it stands now, I still plan to start my master's in media production in October. 🙃

I tried to be brief about last year. I hope I succeeded. I think you are also curious about what my present looks like and perhaps what the future holds.

Then we will see each other again in March! I will probably be deep in a crisis because scientific writing is not really my strong suit. Stay tuned! 😃 👋🏻

_________________________________

Hello, my dear friends! 😃

At the beginning of the year, I always have a lot to do at university. That's why I haven't been able to post much so far. Especially because I'm in the middle of preparing for my bachelor's degree. But let's quickly catch up! 😉

I celebrated Christmas at my aunt's house. My sister came too, which I thought was really nice! 😊 Unfortunately, she had to leave again on Christmas Day.

On that very day, I drove to Czechia with my aunt to fill up the car with gas. Everything went well until we accidentally poured the freshly purchased antifreeze into the radiator instead of the antifreeze reservoir. 😅😬 Unfortunately, it was impossible to continue driving and the car had to be towed. That wasn't good, of course, because I actually needed the car to pick up my parents in Frankfurt on December 27, as they were spending New Year's Eve in Germany. After a few conversations with the insurance company, it was clear that I needed a rental car. However, I had to pick it up in Bayreuth (1 hour away from Selb).

So, on Christmas Day, we drove to Bayreuth to pick up the rental car, while my car was parked in front of a repair shop and couldn't be repaired until the following Monday. From Bayreuth, I drove straight to Ansbach in the rental car (a nice black Skoda Karoq) because I was already halfway home. I spent Boxing Day in the shared apartment.

On December 27, I left at 4:30 a.m. to pick up my parents at Frankfurt Airport. That place is so confusing. 😅 Anyway, my dad had to drive from Frankfurt because I hadn't really slept the night before and had already been driving for 2 1/2 hours.

When we arrived at my brother's place in North Rhine-Westphalia, it was a big reunion. We celebrated Christmas belatedly and went out for dinner together. ☺️ Afterwards, we couldn't miss a visit to the Dortmund Christmas market. 🎄 We also celebrated New Year's Eve together. 🎇

Let's move on to the events of the new year. My aunt and uncle were visiting my brother. Of course, I took the opportunity to interview my aunt for my bachelor's thesis. My friend also had to do it. 😂 I think she enjoyed doing it. 🥰 I also went to the movies with her. We saw the new Stromberg film. Small spoiler: it's not as good as expected. 🥲

My other aunt also came down to bring me my car and take the rental car back. It had to be returned. On January 3, we (my parents and I) drove back to Ansbach.

On January 4, my parents gave a missionary talk in my church. After that, I was without a car for a week, or rather partially without a car, because I had borrowed a car from someone in my church. 🚗

During this time, I had only one thing on my mind: studying for my media economics exam. I had it on January 16. On January 21, I had my last assignment in my major module. We were supposed to introduce someone who works behind the scenes. I introduced an event manager in a 10-minute podcast. Here is the link to listen to it. https://meinpodcast.de/journalistin-auf-mission/backstage-frequenzen-unsichtbare-arbeit-sichtbar-machen We also had to make six social media posts. 

What have I been doing since then? Conducting interviews, conducting interviews, and conducting even more interviews. 😂 All for my podcast on the topic of friendships with generative AI. I'm researching the extent to which podcasts influence opinion formation on emerging topics. To this end, I've already interviewed a professor who teaches generative AI at Deggendorf University of Applied Sciences. On February 10, I will interview an AI manager who advises companies on how to use AI effectively. So I'm making good progress! 🥳 I didn't think experts would agree to interview me so quickly. 

I also work from time to time. But I will probably switch to part-time work in May. Life is becoming too expensive. 😆 I'm supposed to close the store now. For us, that means spending the last hour alone in the store and then doing the tasks that still need to be done at the end of the day. That will take some getting used to.

Here's another little story that happened to me recently. I wanted to re-register my car in my name, but then I noticed that the vehicle registration document was missing! 🙈 I thought about when I had last seen it and asked everyone involved. Then it occurred to me that the repair shop in Selb might have forgotten to put it back. When my aunt called them and they said it wasn't there, my heart started racing. 😂

I prayed to God and asked him to show me where the darn vehicle had gone. I caught myself worrying and decided to trust that it would turn up again. A short time later, my phone rang and my aunt gave me the good news that it was at the repair shop after all. We just have to hand over our worries and God will do the rest. ☺️ Even though the check went to my brother in North Rhine-Westphalia before I got it (because the car was still registered there), I was so grateful at that moment that it hadn't been lost. 🙏🏻

A brief preview: Next week, I will have my bachelor's seminar. As I already mentioned, I have the interview the week after that. On February 15, I will conduct the first study. For that, I will travel to North Rhine-Westphalia again for a few days. 😊 On February 22, I will conduct the second study, and then all I have to do is write, write, write... ✍🏼 Luckily, it's only 20 pages, because I'm already working on the podcast. 

And since I'm not tied to one place for writing, I'm going back to Namibia to visit my parents on March 1. ✈️ Awesome, writing my bachelor's thesis at 30 degrees Celsius and sipping a sundowner in the evening. ☀️🍹 I'm looking forward to it! 😍 You have to make it bearable somehow. But right now it's very stressful because the two podcasts have to be finished and I have to have completed the study by then. Have you ever put yourself under pressure like that? It's not good! 😂 So my personal deadline for my bachelor's thesis is May 1 (funny, that's Labor Day). As things stand at the moment, I'm still planning to start my master's in media production in October. 🙃

I tried to keep last year's part short. I hope I succeeded. I think you are also interested in what my present looks like and perhaps what the future holds. 

See you again in March! I'll probably be in the middle of a crisis because academic writing isn't really my strong suit. Stay tuned! 😃 👋🏻