The sky over Berlin is pale, but the signs point to a new departure.

Julia Schaaf

Editor in the "Life" section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

  • Follow I follow

"Hi, by the way, I'm Jette," says a young woman to another with a similarly perfect make-up who also mentions her name.

"Nice.

And you've moved here now? "

In front of the Henry Ford Building at Freie Universität, people with rucksacks and linen bags, who have been allowed to call themselves students since October 1st, gather on Monday lunchtime. The central introductory event for the winter semester is just over. Anyone who has not typed around on their cell phone now has an idea of ​​what credit points, modules and the re-registration period are all about - the usual organizational small and small that precede every university awakening experience. Nevertheless, the start of the semester is something special. The university president quoted from a speech that Loriot gave more than two decades ago at Freie Universität: “Frequent attendance at lectures does not endanger your health.” He also tries to joke: “FU does not mean open university,how one should think in these Corona times. "

550 first-year students, spread over three lecture halls, vaccination certificate, masks and always at least one seat free in between: it is unusual to suddenly be among so many people again, say two young men who snuck out of the Audimax because they were prospective master’s students were a little bored.

One of them still has shiny eyes: “It's just full of the nice feeling to come back here,” he says.

When the pandemic forced the country into lockdown and thus also the university operations were put on hold, the universities were proud of how quickly, comprehensively and silently the switch to online teaching succeeded.

It has stayed that way since then: three semesters of online teaching, comprehensive and almost noiseless.

"I have the feeling that the situation of three million students in Germany simply didn't exist at all," says Fynn. Always the discussion about schools and the burdens for children and young people. But young adults? "It annoys me that you don't really appreciate the fact that this young generation showed solidarity for a year and a half," says Fynn on the phone. The 19-year-old is studying mechanical engineering in Aachen and is now entering the third semester.

He is a typical representative of this lost Corona generation: After graduating from high school in lockdown, his first semester week consisted of a digital city rally and student council events in the livestream. Instead of moving to Aachen, he initially stayed with his parents. “In the first semester in particular, I often noticed that I was lacking motivation. I didn't feel so great then. ”During the exam phase, he lay awake in bed in the evenings. He didn't know that about himself. Fynn had been a good student, mentally stable, free from the fear of exams and failure. Now his thoughts turned in circles: “For God's sake, this is all too much. You can't do that at all. I am not good enough. Am i doing the right thing? Do I even belong here? "

There had been alarm signals. Investigations by the German Center for University and Science Research on the study situation in the corona pandemic had shown for the first online semester that so-called vulnerable groups suffered particularly: students with children, with disabilities, from non-academic families, international students. Financial needs and health concerns were in the foreground. In addition, a value that could not surprise anyone in view of the lockdown conditions: 86 percent of the students stated in the summer semester 2020 that their contact with their fellow students had worsened. Now we know about the influence that “social integration”, i.e. the connection to the university, the exchange with lecturers and fellow students, has on performance and satisfaction in the course of study.