Florian Püschel

My core task lies in the coordination of two projects. The project ‘HTW Foundation’ is still relatively new and is aimed at prospective overseas students who have a higher education entrance qualification for German universities but do not yet fulfil the language requirements for studying. In addition to language courses, I also organise campus and laboratory tours as well as workshops on various topics, such as organising your studies and living in Germany. At the same time, I have been coordinating a course for refugees since October 2024. I am delighted that we are able to offer it.  The Berlin Senate released funds for this at relatively short notice. A large part of my work consists in holding counselling sessions with the participants, planning excursions and selecting applicants.

Its variety. I don’t sit alone in a silent room, but am in contact with many people and have various different tasks to complete. As I also have to liaise with other people within HTW Berlin, I have gained an understanding of the University’s structure and learned a great deal, including about topics such as award procedures and finances. Working with people is actually the most varied type of work I can imagine.

Communication skills and improvisation. Improvisation sounds as if you have no structure. But I mean something else: in my job, I am often confronted with unexpected requests or circumstances. One example: I currently have a case of a young woman from Turkey who would like to take part in the HTW Foundation Programme but cannot get an appointment at the German Consulate in Izmir. She is therefore unable to enter Germany and does not know when she can expect to do so. Here you have to try to find a solution, which isn’t easy because you are dependent on other organisations. That can make things rather challenging, so you also need a certain amount of optimism.

Diversity is a fact of my daily life. I deal with many different age groups and people from a range of cultural backgrounds: from the older full-time employee in the public sector to the young woman who had to flee Ukraine at the age of 17, to the young man who has been living in Berlin with his family for a longer period after fleeing Syria. These people all have different backgrounds, but that’s what makes it so enriching for me.

I actually find it relatively easy not to “take my work home with me”, so to speak. This might be because I usually work in my office on campus and there aren’t many reminders of it at home. Apart from that, I am a passionate reader and book collector, as well as a huge film and music fan. I also often go to live concerts.

Literary figures come to mind first. I find Thomas Pynchon interesting. He is famous for the fact that no one actually knows what he looks like, and he is already very old. However, David Foster  Wallace, who is unfortunately already deceased, would certainly have been an interesting conversation partner.