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For two years, the popular Steiger evening had to take place online due to the coronavirus pandemic. In summer, Steiger College was finally able to offer the event in person again. The motto of the evening: Fail masterfully.
The Oberharzer Bergwerksmuseum's Pferdegaipel was well attended when Annerose Dietz and Katrin Balthaus from Steiger College opened the first Steiger evening of the year. In a cozy atmosphere with live music, the theme was all about failure - and how you can use failure to your advantage. The five guest speakers of the evening explained exactly how this works: Clausthal professors Christian Bohn and Gregor Wehinger, Annalena Schulte, Ali Abo Hamoud and Amke Eggers.
Prof. Bohn made the start. He made the audience laugh with a joke at Friedrich Nietzsche's expense: Nietzsche wrote in his Morgenröthe of the "lot [...] of failing at infinity". This was particularly apt in the context of Prof. Bohn's subject area, control engineering, "because in my exams, students also fail at infinity from time to time". This made it clear at the beginning of the evening: failure is part of life, but you can learn something from every failure.
Prof. Wehinger was able to talk about how to deal with failed exams and setbacks during his studies from his own time at university. His solution: "Free yourself from fixed ideas." Even the current junior professor at the Institute of Chemical and Electrochemical Process Engineering did not always pass all his exams at the first attempt.
And what if everything goes really wrong, you're desperate and don't know what to do next? That's what happened to Annalena Schulte when she was stranded at San Antonio airport. She had landed in the wrong place, without a contact person and without her urgently needed work materials. She found a way out of the seemingly hopeless situation when she sought help locally. Her message to the guests at the Steiger evening: Have the courage to approach others and don't be afraid to ask for help!
Sometimes you can fail even if you have good intentions. Just like Ali Abo Hamoud, who is a volunteer at Querschlag e.V.. Although he himself was enthusiastic about the work in the association from the very beginning, he quickly realized that it is not easy to get people to volunteer. He had to look for new strategies and ways to make volunteering popular and was successful - today, not only many students but also locals are involved with Querschlag.
The evening was rounded off by Dr. Amke Eggers, who had a tip especially for doctoral students. During her doctoral thesis, she adhered to the philosophy of the famous painter Bob Ross: There are no mistakes, only "happy accidents"! In academic work, you should accept "happy accidents" and not be too perfectionist. As with a painting, you should first lay the foundations for your doctorate and narrow down the content. If things get stuck, a little distance can help you make progress. And in between you should just do it - because it could turn out well.
The relaxed atmosphere at the event was palpable throughout the evening. The audience was allowed to ask any question, but none of them had to be answered by the guests. Nevertheless, they volunteered many answers.
Annerose Dietz, former head of Steiger College, created the Steiger Evenings for precisely this purpose: to bring students together with lecturers and other members of the university and allow them to exchange ideas in a relaxed atmosphere. This concept has been successfully implemented since 2018 and was also continued during the coronavirus pandemic thanks to the online option.
You can already mark the next Steiger evening in your diary: On November 9, various guests will once again tell their personal stories of failure - and what they have learned from it. Perhaps you'll pick up a tip or two that you can put to good use in your studies, but also in life.
You can find updates on the next Steiger evening here: Steiger-College**
Questions, feedback or further comments? Then write me an e-mail: blog@tu-clausthal.de