When the Abitur certificates are awarded today, a very special dream will come true for her: Doctor's assistant Barbara Freier has dared to tackle the most important test of her life.
She wants to study and become a doctor herself.
As an external student, she graduated from the Puchheim grammar school.
Puchheim
- Sitting behind the practice counter, asking for the insurance card, measuring blood pressure - all that was no longer enough for medical assistant Barbara Freier.
Day by day it became clearer to her: “I can achieve more.” She looked up at her bosses, the gods in white, in this case really.
“They were great, they were real role models for me,” says the 22-year-old.
The thought never went away: “I want to be like her.” The new goal in life was to study medicine.
An important stage in this: the Puchheim high school, which is around 100 kilometers from where you live in Bad Kohlgrub (Garmisch-Partenkirchen district).
External examination
Puchheim is one of over 100 schools across Bavaria that conduct external exams.
The grammar schools are mainly located in the metropolitan areas.
"It doesn't make sense to send all the Munich residents to Berchtesgaden, for example," explains senior level supervisor Lars Loock.
For Barbara Freier, the way to Puchheim was not only long in terms of distance.
When the desire grew in her to catch up on the university entrance qualification, many questions arose.
She started her apprenticeship when she was 16, then worked for a year.
Could she be able to acquire all of the material after such a long break from studying?
Go to school again?
Reach upper school level?
She talked to her best friend about this plan for days and nights.
At some point a result was certain: “I have nothing to lose.
I can only win. "
So Barbara Freier quit her job and registered with a private learning institute in Munich.
She had saved money and lived with her parents.
For two years she practically exposed herself to pressure refueling in German, math & Co.
There were additional lessons every day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday and Sunday.
She learned Spanish in no time.
Math was easy for her, as it used to be - she wrote long essays less often.
Among her classmates were former high school students.
The effort was immense.
"My private life has suffered a lot, I couldn't do anything with my boyfriend." Barbara Freier also had to take care of her grandfather, who was in need of care.
Certificate is presented
But then the big day came: she registered as an external student for the Abitur.
When she found out that she was going to take the most important exam of her life in Puchheim, she had to smile.
"I knew the place from before, from athletics competitions." When things got serious, she was terribly nervous.
"It was terrible.
A single note that determines the whole of life. ”After all: In Puchheim she felt very well received by the upper level supervisors, like in a family.
Four oral and four written exams later it was clear: Barbara Freier had passed the Abitur, and she will also receive her certificate on Friday.
The result is not quite as good as she hoped it would be.
But she'll try medicine anyway.
In Austria.
And if that doesn't work, there is a plan B: primary school teaching.
That would have a big advantage: she could open a flat share with her best friend in Augsburg.
She decided to do her A-levels and become a teacher.
Upper level supervisor Loock does not consider the current solution for an external high school diploma in Bavaria to be optimal.
It should better run through two institutes in Nuremberg and Munich.
But senior level supervisor Silvia Rohnstein also asserts: "When you see how happy the high school graduates are, the whole effort is worth it." In Puchheim only a small part made it to the very end.
This is how it works with the external high school diploma
In theory, anyone can do their high school diploma through an alternative educational path. Most of those who tackle this are in their early / mid-twenties. “But it still works at the age of 95,” explains Puchheim's senior level supervisor Lars Loock. For him and especially his colleague Silvia Rohnstein, this means an immense effort - in addition to the actual Abitur. “It's about several hours a day,” explains Loock.
15 external applicants had applied in Puchheim, with the most colorful CVs.
Preparations began in December, after which less than half of the applicants remained.
“Some don't even show up for the talks, while others realize during the preparation that they won't make it,” says Rohnstein.
If you withdraw up to a week before the first exam, you are still on the safe side.
In other words: The attempt does not count.
You can only try the Abitur twice.
The external Abitur examinations are written by the Puchheim teachers themselves, they are not set centrally.
There are two examination blocks, linked to the normal colloquium.
"The organization is incredibly complicated," says supervisor Silvia Rohnstein.
In addition, other supervisors are needed for the exams.
at all