Tutzing - Rosalie Knill and Hanna Kilian completed a voluntary social year (FSJ) at the Evangelical Academy Tutzing.
With a self-built insect hotel they have now said goodbye to the academy, look back on a year full of variety - and look forward to their studies with excitement.
When Rosalie Knill thinks about what she's been through in the past year, all sorts of things come to mind at the same time. “A lot has happened. It was my first time driving a tractor, serving guests in the restaurant, doing manual work, assisting with online conferences, checking rooms and doing late shifts alone at reception. ”
Together with Hanna Kilian, who also completed a voluntary social year (FSJ) at the Evangelical Academy Tutzing at the same time, she also created a small wildflower bed, built an insect hotel and not only discussed social issues in the seminar days of Diakonie Bayern, but also went canoeing and rappelled down a 35 meter high rock face. Quite a lot of experiences for a year that started a bit disoriented after graduating from high school.
“Gap Year” - is the colloquial term for a year between graduation and the start of training, which many young people use not only to bridge their time, but also to find a career and develop their personality.
In this respect, the term can sometimes be misleading, because it is less about a “gap” than about inspiration and orientation.
In the 2020/2021 academic year, 18-year-old Hanna Kilian from Weilheim and 19-year-old Rosalie Knill from Pöcking used the time at the Evangelical Academy in Tutzing to get to know all facets of an educational establishment as FSJ students.
“In a very strange year, at the beginning of which I was a bit disoriented and didn't know what I wanted to do later, I was able to do something useful, develop myself and get to know and learn a lot of new things,” says Rosalie Knill.
Together with Hanna Kilian she was used in several trades in the house: in housekeeping, in gardening and caretaker service and in conference assistance. Even in times of Corona, lockdown and conferences in digital form, there was a lot to do.
"We did tasks that arose around the house.", Explains Hanna Kilian and specifies: "These included, for example, raking up the leaves in the castle park, cleaning the chandeliers or office activities." Regular cleaning and checking of all rooms was also part of it in order to be prepared for a possible opening day. In the process, both of them got to know every room in the palace and the academy. “In between, we attended online conferences organized by the academy at the weekend, which means we helped with the technology, heated up the food for the conference leaders and even wrote the conference reports from time to time,” says Hanna Kilian. When the "Holidays in the Castle" period began in July and the house was filled with guests again, there were activities in the reception,in the kitchen and also in the evening at the castle counter.
Housekeeping manager Natalie Schwald also enjoyed the time with Hanna Kilian and Rosalie Knill. “I really appreciate working with young people. They are fun to work with, they bring verve into our house and a fresh look at all kinds of things. In short: you are an asset. "
During the year, the two FSJ students attended the Diakonie Bayern education days, which they organize as a sponsor for their volunteers.
The topics here were just as varied: "We talked about different topics, such as homelessness, mental illness or conspiracy theories," reports Hanna Kilian.
She liked the outdoor seminar in June the most.
In Harra an der Saale, Thuringia, the young people camped, cared for themselves and sat around the campfire in the evenings on a clear night.
During the day they went canoeing together, went rock climbing and also visited the Mödlareuth open-air museum.
When both young women set off to study, an insect hotel in the castle park will remember them both and their time at the academy. The work of wood, straw, clay and wire was her project work - an important part of the FSJ.
“At the end of my FSJ, I can only say that I had a lot of fun and that I can now not only clean perfectly, but also have great experience in all areas of a hotel. I can really recommend an FSJ at the Evangelical Academy in Tutzing because it is varied and never gets boring. ”, Hanna Kilian sums up her time in Tutzing. She will start studying packaging technology in the fall. Rosalie Knill moved to Passau to study political science there. She says: “I am very happy about my decision to have done an FSJ at the Evangelical Academy in Tutzing. The location of the peacefully beautiful academy site is unique and I felt very comfortable in the team. The education days were super nice,I made very nice acquaintances and accumulated a lot of memories. "
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