Interview
Niklas has been actively supporting the STELP team as a working student for over six months. Niklas is our absolute all-rounder talent. In addition to his work at STELP, he studies at the Hochschule der Medien and is involved in our non-profit café | bar NATAN.
STELP: What is your STELP story?
Niklas: I joined STELP in February 2022 via NATAN. At the beginning of the war in Ukraine, I became aware of the non-profit concept via an Instagram post, and as friends were taking part in the STELP fundraising campaign for Ukraine, it was a quick decision for me to help out at NATAN.
I was so taken by the STELP concept that I took part in the volunteer program myself to help with a project for refugees on Lesbos.
In September 2023, I finally joined STELP myself as a working student and worked my way through the sometimes dense IT and financial jungle with the team.
STELP: What makes STELP special for you?
Niklas: On the one hand, of course, the fast, sustainable and direct help in countless countries for people who weren’t lucky enough to be born in countries like Germany. On the other hand, the community and the cooperation here in Stuttgart with countless committed individuals, who all help to take STELP a step further with their skills and their work. This has already given me the opportunity to work on projects with an IT law expert, several teachers, a music collective, a film agency and many more. I am very grateful for that.
STELP: Which project is particularly close to your heart?
Niklas: Since I took part in a STELP project in Tanzania for 7 weeks in February 2024 and this is still very close to my heart, this is probably one of my favorite projects. The sustainable help for children and young people there, who grew up with illnesses and physical disabilities, really touched me. I was all the more shocked when East Africa was hit by severe flooding at the end of April this year, with Tanzania being one of the countries affected.
STELP: What superpower would you like to have?
Niklas: Probably a boring classic, but flying. Would like to fly with the local pigeons and ravens.
STELP: You have to work concentrated, what’s playing on your headphones?
Niklas: To put it in Spotify playlists: either Cinematic Chillout, Late Night Jazz or Deep Focus.
STELP: How do you clear your head?
Niklas: Either jogging, preferably in the Schloss- and Rosensteinpark, or really good food and then a coffee. That has always worked wonders for me. 😊
