"My mother is a primary school teacher—a great primary school teacher, I think. But primary school wasn't for me at all. The little ones annoy me. But my mother was a really great primary school teacher. My father was a teacher for the blind."
"I studied teaching, first for Chemistry and German. Then I switched to Chemistry and Biology. Those are my two subjects. But I (...) wasn't really sure that I wanted to be a teacher, so I went into research first. I started a doctorate in Molecular Biology, and then after six months, I realized that wasn't my path."
"Although I didn't find field experiences and student teaching that exciting—when I just observed classes and sat in the back or only taught individual lessons—I did realize that it could work (…) But it didn't really grab me. When I finally realized this was the right career for me, it was with my own classes, when you gradually build a relationship with the class, with the group, and you realize that you can win them over (…) Then it started to be fun. That's why I became a teacher."
"So I ended up in a school with grades 5 to 13* and I basically taught everything—later more the older students. To be honest, I enjoy teaching the slightly older students the most."
"In between, I also supervised a lab one day a week, a genetic engineering lab—a student lab. Students from other schools would come to us and spend a day conducting small experiments with us, using materials that not every school had (...) It was a lot of fun, but it also took up a lot of time, and at some point I thought, I've done enough overtime in my life."
*Note: The German "Gymnasium" ends in 13th grade (as opposed to 12th grade).