About me

Youth Leader

I first attended a KiJu Camp when I was twelve years old and absolutely loved the experience and the wonderful people I met. Since then, I have returned at every opportunity. For more than 15 years I have actively volunteered to support the camps in different roles. I’m a regular supervisor, project instructor, speaker, and team leader at the Juniors Camps and part of the core organizational team.

For over five years, I was Head Officer of the KiJu Camp department and, with that, a member of the extended executive board of Mensa in Deutschland. I have been overseeing and organizing about 10 annual camps serving more than 2000 children and teenagers aged between 6 and 19. I was supported by an organizational team of 10 volunteers that I established, and by over 100 voluntary youth leaders. I negotiated and was entrusted with a budget of over €100.000 a year to ensure smooth and professional operations. My responsibilities involved training programs, mentoring, internal and external communications, prevention work, manuals and documentation, legal compliance, public relations, and administration. I enjoyed advancing the KiJu Camps with new formats, process optimizations, the introduction of performance evaluations, and a visual branding initiative.

Today, I’m grateful to my successors, Liz and Benjamin, who now direct the camps with great competence and diligence. Since I was twelve, it hasn’t changed the slightest how much I enjoy coming back at every opportunity and how I feel at home and appreciated in this wonderful community.

Improv Theater

It always fascinated me how you can come up with entertaining and sophisticated theater on the spot without a script. Improvising on stage in front of a live audience is thrilling, challenging, and always unexpected. But you can practice some mechanisms that result reliably in good shows. The key is team cooperation following the guiding principle “Yes! And…”: Unconditionally accept what others establish and add one little extra. Combined with the openness to explore where the narrative leads your team creates magical shows.

I’ve been playing and practicing improv since I visited my first Mensa Juniors Camp in 2004. At the AMS!-Theater in Bremen, I found the guidance and teaching I needed, along with a warm-hearted and fun community. Since 2017 I’ve also been teaching improv classes and coaching teams. The AMS! has been the home of several teams I had the privilege to play in, including Beutelbingo, Harald im Anflug, Streichzart, The Masquerade, and Unsachlich.

Bouldering

Climbing without a rope gives you much freedom and independence on the wall. The routes are no higher than a few meters so you can always land safely on the soft floor mats, yet versatile and as demanding as you like. Bouldering requires finger strength, balance, body control, core tension, flexibility, stamina, and courage – and it becomes easier with the right technique using momentum and anatomy sensibly. It feels like solving a puzzle with my body to figure out the best approach to a track. I like that it exercises the whole body and the mind. It’s also a social sport as you spend time together regenerating on the mat or team up with others to crack a route.

Scuba Diving

The first time I went under water and took a deep breath, I couldn’t believe how magnificent the enormous world was that revealed itself to me. Every time I go deep sea diving, I’m fascinated anew. The diversity of species, the abundance of fish schools, the intensity of colors, and the tranquility of hovering weightlessly through space are different from anything else that you can experience on this planet.

If you want to see more and go underwater with me, join me for a dive on YouTube:

Yoga & Meditation

Practicing yoga has one of the biggest impacts on my well-being. I feel much more comfortable in my body and I’m continuously amazed at what poses I can do with it. Also, it goes well with bouldering as the trainings benefit each other. My take on yoga is more an acrobatic workout for strengthening and stretching than esoteric.

In my daily routine, I also meditate and keep a gratitude journal (a digital one, of course). I wouldn’t want to miss any of these habits and wish somebody would have taught me in school already. If you have never engaged much with yoga, meditation, or mindfulness, I recommend reading about the scientific insights available today about their effects. It can improve sleep quality, reduce stress and anxiety, help with mood regulation, increase focus, and bring various physical health benefits. I have a critical and scientific mindset towards spirituality and ancient traditions, so I was excited to learn about the rigorous research out there, explaining why it has such a valuable influence on me.

Hiking

One of my favorite vacation activities and a wonderful way to explore nature.

Experimental Cooking & Fermentation

I love exploring new aromas and trying new ingredients – at home and dining out. I have a soft spot for Asian cuisine, especially Japanese style. And I think fermentation or pickling can add so much to food. Almost all I cook is vegetarian, and I play with vegan options as much as possible. As so often in creative processes, restricting the possible options reasonably can diversify the outcome with new approaches. My current favorites are preserved salt lemons, adding so much flavor and excitement to any number of dishes. Prepare some now and rejoice in a month!