I can hardly believe it myself, but time really flies. It feels like I’ve only just started my studies, and already the first semester is over. Over the past three months, I’ve been deeply engaged in Agile and Innovation-Driven Leadership, Business Sustainability and Economic Decision Making, and Innovation by Design. In between, I also had to fly from Christchurch to Germany—but thanks to the hybrid course model I chose, I was able to continue my studies seamlessly from Germany.

At first, studying again as an international student was a major adjustment for me—especially since my time as a student was more than 25 years ago. I first had to familiarize myself with everything: where to get coffee, where the bike storage is, how to print documents, and much more. I also had to get used to preparing for lectures again by reading articles or watching TED Talks. Naturally, my language skills have improved significantly over the past few months—you grow with your challenge when you are almost exclusively speaking, reading, and writing English with native speakers.

In March, the first assessments were already underway: essays and reports had to be written, and group projects were launched.

Speaking of group work, I was incredibly fortunate to work with two truly excellent teams.

In Innovation by Design, I had the opportunity to work with Ben, Jaden, and Mel on the challenge of chronic pain in modern work environments. We took a highly creative approach and developed the idea of Movement Snacks—simple exercises that can be done right at the office workstation. We built low‑fidelity prototypes and tested them pragmatically in office settings. To help people remember to move regularly, the concept is intended to be embedded in a Windows app that provides periodic reminders and suggests a suitable exercise at the same time. Whether this idea will one day put food on our tables remains to be seen—but we certainly learned a great deal over the past few weeks, and the fun factor was definitely not neglected.

In Agile and Innovation‑Driven Leadership, Alfred, Joe, Selena, and I were tasked with conducting interviews at an innovative company to understand how it successfully implements innovation. The project focused heavily on collaboration, openness, and mutual trust—but also on perseverance.

Halfway through the project, I unexpectedly had to return to Germany. As a team, we demonstrated that same perseverance and continued the journey together all the way to the end. For our final presentation, I simply joined the video conference at 2 a.m. my time. Our professor was initially skeptical about whether this would work—but our strong team performance convinced her otherwise.

Once again, many thanks to you, my dear “classmates.”

To my great regret, I missed the field trip to Cleardale Station in the breathtaking Rakaia Gorge. Classes in the mountains under perfect weather conditions—something I would have loved to be part of. Unfortunately, all I can do is look at the photos my fellow students sent me.

Now I’m looking forward to two weeks of break—which, for me, simply means going to the office and having free time in the evenings. That’s needed sometimes, too.