Here, participants in the Voluntary Scientific Year (FWJ) report on their experiences in the University Archives at the University of Oldenburg.

Why did you decide to do a voluntary research year?

Chantal: After finishing my Abitur, I was still unsure about which career path I wanted to take. At first, I considered starting an apprenticeship straight away, but in the end I decided to do a voluntary year first, to get my bearings professionally and gain some new experience. That’s when I came across the position at the university.

Fenja: I hadn’t had much exposure to academic workin my circle of friends and family, so I’m doing the Academic Year to prepare for my degree and get a feel for everyday life at university.

Where are you based and what are your areas of responsibility?

We’re based in the University Archives. Our main tasks involve cataloguing and packaging documents. We also carry out digitisation work and, in collaboration with a colleague, were given the opportunity to put together our own exhibition. This involved research, writing exhibition texts and designing the display case. We also had the opportunity to assist at KIBUM and to take part in several archival conferences.

Why did you choose to do your voluntary service at the University of Oldenburg of all places?

Fenja: I’ve always been interested in history, so the FWJ placement in Oldenburg was a perfect fit. Generally speaking, not many universities offer the FWJ programme, and when they do, the placements tend to be in the natural sciences, which didn’t really appeal to me.

Chantal: I decided to do my voluntary service at the university because I have a keen interest in history and, in particular, in working with historical sources. History was already one of my favourite subjects at school, and I took the advanced course, which deepened my interest even further. During my school years, I particularly enjoyed analysing and interpreting sources, and I wanted to see whether this kind of work might also be something for my future.

What challenges have you had to face so far?

Fenja: As I moved out to do my FWJ, it was a challenge, especially at the start, to get used to all the changes. After my Abitur, I had a few months off, so the 40-hour week was quite exhausting at first, particularly combined with running my own household.

Chantal: Even though I really enjoy working life, it was still a bit of an adjustment at first to work 40 hours a week. I also had to learn to be more independent and, in some respects, to step out of my comfort zone.

What has pleasantly surprised you?

Fenja: I’m constantly surprised by how lovely everyone is here in the archive. I’ve been lucky enough to have Chantal as a brilliant colleague, and I really enjoy spending my days with her. What’s more, our requests are taken very seriously and we’re fully integrated into the team. I was also surprised to find that we can attend conferences and take part in in-house training courses at the university.

Chantal: I’ve beenpleasantly surprised by lots of things. Above all, though, by how much responsibility you’re allowed to take on yourself. I wouldn’t have thought I’d be given my own tasks so early on and be able to actively contribute to the cataloguing of materials. Another positive aspect is working with the archive staff. The working atmosphere is very friendly, and I’ve always been able to ask questions or learn new things. And of course, I was also really pleased to get to know Fenja – she definitely makes the day-to-day work even better. :)

What have you learnt so far during your voluntary service?

The voluntary service has definitely helped us become more independent. We’re learning a great deal about working life, but also about ourselves :-)

Why did you decide to do a voluntary research year?

Scientific work has always seemed quite a distant prospect to me. Of course, you have a certain idea of how scientists work, but somehow you really only have a very vague notion of it. As I’d originally wanted to work in a lab, I was looking for something to do after my Abitur that wouldn’t involve starting an apprenticeship straight away or just a short work placement. That’s how I found out about the research year.

Where are you based and what are your responsibilities?

I’m currently working in the University Archives. Our job is to present the history of the university as accurately as possible, whilst also making the university’s records accessible for research (as far as possible). We have both pre-retirement and post-retirement collections from former professors, documents from the time of the teacher training college, minutes of departmental councils and committees, and so on.

My responsibilities are wide-ranging. At the moment, I’m digitising the old records from the teacher training college using a really high-quality book scanner. I recently finished work on the estate of Wolfgang Schulenberg, which I first had to catalogue (enter into Arcinsys, an archive information system) and then repackage (first removing metal fastenings and then packing into acid-free envelopes and boxes). As I have a keen interest in the natural sciences, we have also started to review documents in the individual institutes within School V (School of Mathematics and Science) and will subsequently process them in the archive. Soon, I’ll also be visiting the home of a late professor for the first time to examine his documents on site. From time to time, I’m also sent on business trips throughout Germany, for example on topics such as long-term digital archiving or our eyewitness project, which we’re currently working on.

Why did you choose to do your voluntary service at the University of Oldenburg of all places?

To be honest, I hadn’t planned on coming to Oldenburg. I’d applied for FWJ placements in a laboratory in Hanover, but didn’t get them in the end. However, as I really wanted to do the academic year, I then applied for the last available position here in the University Archives. It’s not exactly my career path, but I still enjoy working here!

What challenges have you had to face so far?

The biggest challenge for me is probably choosing to work in a field that isn’t what I want to do professionally later on. It’s not difficult for me to work here, as I have quite wide-ranging interests, but I still sometimes imagine what it would be like to have got a job in the lab after all. For a while, I wondered whether I was actually wasting my time at the moment. But as I’m allowed to attend all the modules and lectures for my chosen degree programme (Environmental Sciences) on the side, I know for certain that this is the right choice. I’ve got plenty of time to be absolutely sure about what I want to study later on.

What do you think this year will bring for you?

This year is a gap year before the stress of studying starts all over again. I made a conscious decision to take a year out just to unwind from all the A-level stress. I can start thinking about my degree programme, get used to northern Germany and plan my student finance in more detail. I probably wouldn’t have managed all that so quickly straight after my Abitur.

What have you learnt so far from your voluntary service?

My voluntary service has taught me a lot. What it’s like to have my first proper job (working eight hours a day, being employed by a university, having a proper workplace for almost a year), living on my own, and moving to a different part of Germany (as I’m originally from southern Germany). Of course, I’ve also learnt a number of skills on the job, including some soft skills, for which we even had a special seminar day.

What advice would you give to future volunteers?

You can only gain from this year. If you have the chance, do a voluntary service placement. In this one year, you’ll have plenty of time to think more deeply about your ‘future’. We also had days during the compulsory seminars where we learnt more about choosing a degree course and financing your studies. You can make great use of the year to get a taste of a new career (or your dream job later on), to think about what you ultimately want to do in the future, but you can also simply attend lectures or courses at the university. Make the most of the opportunities available to you at the university whilst you’re here. You really can only benefit from it.