LIFE
After graduating from high school, I was drawn to explore and experience the world and thus travelled around Australia and Europe for two years before eventually earning a Bachelor of Arts in British Studies at the University of Leipzig. During this time, I published my first fantasy novel. Parallel to my studies as an exchange student at Macquarie University in Sydney, I completed my scuba diving instructor training and taught German courses at Robert Menzies College. In travelling Southeast Asia for an additional year, I enjoyed becoming intimately familiar with diverse cultures and people while putting my skills to good use as an English teacher and diving instructor.
Since returning to Germany, I have earned my Master's in British Studies and administered/taught English language courses for the University of Leipzig's Department for Further Scientific Education from 2019 to 2022.
Feeling at home in the world yet well-established in Leipzig, I am currently crafting my own literary and academic works while also engaging in my primary work as an educator (with an English and literary focus). As a teacher, editor, and translator, I support my clients as they look to take their school, business, literary, and academic projects to the next level.
After graduating from high school, I was drawn to explore and experience the world and thus travelled around Australia and Europe for two years before eventually earning a Bachelor of Arts in British Studies at the University of Leipzig. During this time, I published my first fantasy novel. Parallel to my studies as an exchange student at Macquarie University in Sydney, I completed my scuba diving instructor training and taught German courses at Robert Menzies College. In travelling Southeast Asia for an additional year, I enjoyed becoming intimately familiar with diverse cultures and people while putting my skills to good use as an English teacher and diving instructor.
Since returning to Germany, I have earned my Master's in British Studies and administered/taught English language courses for the University of Leipzig's Department for Further Scientific Education from 2019 to 2022.
Feeling at home in the world yet well-established in Leipzig, I am currently crafting my own literary and academic works while also engaging in my primary work as an educator (with an English and literary focus). As a teacher, editor, and translator, I support my clients as they look to take their school, business, literary, and academic projects to the next level.
LITERATURE AND TEACHING
We each have a story of how we came to read. We found those first stories by chance; later on, we deliberately seek adventures in new and exciting worlds. Some of us merely long to escape our own lives for a moment or two. Others seek a mirror reflecting the deepest parts of our souls through the wor(l)ds of emotion flowing from the pen of a stranger. Some of us go so far as to give expression to this inner life by creating our own works.
The written word is all too familiar to us yet at the same time an incomparable phenomenon. Employing a variation of strokes and dots, we capture the knowledge of humanity, record the past for the future, and touch the very hearts of others without ever even knowing them. A few humble pages can create worlds that transcend the boundaries of the universe. A single work can leave its mark on an entire generation of humanity, on the Gestalt of mankind.
I have come to view my interaction with literature as a fundamental element of my life and identity. Some works set me free to lose myself in them; others challenge me to find myself. Either which way, working with literature is a social experience that shapes my journey through life and exerts a decisive influence on the people I meet along the way. A few scant lines — swiftly skimmed — can open doors to other eras, cultures, languages, and philosophies of life, ignite in us a passion for something new, or give shape to an unexpected dream for the future. When all is said and read, we are never alone as readers. We hold tight to the stories that touch us, move us and inspir us. Whether expressed through books, blogs, film, music, art, or in conversation, stories connect people and transform strangers into kindred spirits.
Time and again, I am grateful when I unearth a work that captivates me in this way. Literature helps us understand that while much in our world is destroyed and lost, hope can emerge from human imagination.
In essence, writing and working with literature enriches my life. This is as true today as it was over 20 years ago when I first put pen to paper and began scribbling my own fantasy stories as a schoolboy.
Bildung, im Allgemeinen, ist ein transformatives Geschenk. Für einige Menschen erweitert das Lesen und Lernen ihre Welt, da sie Tatsachen, Orte und Empfindungen erleben, die sie sich nie vorstellen konnten; für andere öffnet sich dadurch etwas in ihrem Inneren. Lesen und Lernen heilt die Seele und bringt das Beste in uns, wie auch das Beste anderer in uns zum Vorschein. Unser Leben ist und bleibt ein einzelnes Menschenleben, aber es wird maßgebend durch unseren Umgang mit Literatur geprägt. Zu lesen erlaubt uns, tausende Leben zu führen, und das Schreiben, ebenso viele für andere Menschen zu schaffen. Geschichten geben unseren Träumen und Idealen Form und ermutigen uns, diese zu realisieren. Wie oft denkst Du über die fantastisch verflochtenen Welten nach, welche Du zwischen den Zeilen einer Erzählung betreten hast, oder über die wissenschaftlichen Lehrtexte, die dafür verantwortlich sind, dass sich Dein Weltbild schlagartig und unumkehrbar gewandelt hat? Wie oft hast Du den Drang verspürt, dieses Erlebnis mit anderen zu teilen? Gelerntes, Erfahrenes und Erlebtes zu lehren gibt uns die Macht, ein Vermächtnis positiver Veränderungen zu hinterlassen. Hierin liegen mein Impuls zu lesen, meine Inspiration zu schreiben, und meine Motivation zu forschen und zu lehren.
We each have a story of how we came to read. We found those first stories by chance; later on, we deliberately seek adventures in new and exciting worlds. Some of us merely long to escape our own lives for a moment or two. Others seek a mirror reflecting the deepest parts of our souls through the wor(l)ds of emotion flowing from the pen of a stranger. Some of us go so far as to give expression to this inner life by creating our own works.
The written word is all too familiar to us yet at the same time an incomparable phenomenon. Employing a variation of strokes and dots, we capture the knowledge of humanity, record the past for the future, and touch the very hearts of others without ever even knowing them. A few humble pages can create worlds that transcend the boundaries of the universe. A single work can leave its mark on an entire generation of humanity, on the Gestalt of mankind.
I have come to view my interaction with literature as a fundamental element of my life and identity. Some works set me free to lose myself in them; others challenge me to find myself. Either which way, working with literature is a social experience that shapes my journey through life and exerts a decisive influence on the people I meet along the way. A few scant lines — swiftly skimmed — can open doors to other eras, cultures, languages, and philosophies of life, ignite in us a passion for something new, or give shape to an unexpected dream for the future. When all is said and read, we are never alone as readers. We hold tight to the stories that touch us, move us and inspir us. Whether expressed through books, blogs, film, music, art, or in conversation, stories connect people and transform strangers into kindred spirits.
Time and again, I am grateful when I unearth a work that captivates me in this way. Literature helps us understand that while much in our world is destroyed and lost, hope can emerge from human imagination.
In essence, writing and working with literature enriches my life. This is as true today as it was over 20 years ago when I first put pen to paper and began scribbling my own fantasy stories as a schoolboy.
Bildung, im Allgemeinen, ist ein transformatives Geschenk. Für einige Menschen erweitert das Lesen und Lernen ihre Welt, da sie Tatsachen, Orte und Empfindungen erleben, die sie sich nie vorstellen konnten; für andere öffnet sich dadurch etwas in ihrem Inneren. Lesen und Lernen heilt die Seele und bringt das Beste in uns, wie auch das Beste anderer in uns zum Vorschein. Unser Leben ist und bleibt ein einzelnes Menschenleben, aber es wird maßgebend durch unseren Umgang mit Literatur geprägt. Zu lesen erlaubt uns, tausende Leben zu führen, und das Schreiben, ebenso viele für andere Menschen zu schaffen. Geschichten geben unseren Träumen und Idealen Form und ermutigen uns, diese zu realisieren. Wie oft denkst Du über die fantastisch verflochtenen Welten nach, welche Du zwischen den Zeilen einer Erzählung betreten hast, oder über die wissenschaftlichen Lehrtexte, die dafür verantwortlich sind, dass sich Dein Weltbild schlagartig und unumkehrbar gewandelt hat? Wie oft hast Du den Drang verspürt, dieses Erlebnis mit anderen zu teilen? Gelerntes, Erfahrenes und Erlebtes zu lehren gibt uns die Macht, ein Vermächtnis positiver Veränderungen zu hinterlassen. Hierin liegen mein Impuls zu lesen, meine Inspiration zu schreiben, und meine Motivation zu forschen und zu lehren.