Go with the flow
Anna Herbst started her position as Transfer and Alumni Relations Manager at the h_da in October 2021. The topic of continuing education runs through her vita like a recurring theme: first as a research subject, then as a practical assignment, and it has constantly been her passion. Supporting people on the way to their goals is what brings her joy. As a mother of two, she maintains her calm and perspective even in complex situations. Her feet stay on the ground, even when she’s out sculling on the river.
Anna Herbst, new Alumni Relations Manager at the h_da
Alert but calm, rational but open-minded - the first impressions you will get of Anna Herbst are proven right as you talk to her. The 38-year-old is keen, friendly and appreciative. Education and continuing education have been the guiding stars of her career path so far. “Every one of my stations has given me exciting different perspectives and skills,” she says. Alongside this, Anna Herbst has continued her education in a variety of ways: in project management and constructive dialogue management, on online marketing, process optimization or content management systems. “I’m curious and I do get bored quickly,” she says almost apologetically and smiles. The media educator can build on this wealth of experience and her large toolbox of methods in her new role as Transfer and Alumni Relations Manager.
Anna Herbst was born in Gross-Gerau – and her thirst for knowledge was apparently instilled in her. On her way to graduating from a high school in Darmstadt, she took math and English as her advanced courses. She began studying to be a teacher at the Goethe University in Frankfurt, taking German and social studies. “But I quickly realized that I would rather work with adults,” she says. So she switched to a master’s degree program at Darmstadt Technical University, where she studied education, psychology and law. It was the right choice: “The program offered me a great mix – from abstract topics like critical education theory to case studies in labor law. During my studies, I learned how to learn and how to organize myself.”
Student assistant, cashier, scholarship holder
As a student assistant at the Institute for Pedagogy, Department of Education and Technology, Anna Herbst led tutorials, accompanied research projects, worked in the “ComputerStudienWerkstatt” and co-founded a project to develop an online learning environment for students. “On the side, I worked for many years as a cashier at the gas station, in the bakery shop or as a vacation camp supervisor,” she says. So there’s no danger of getting lost in the scientific ivory tower.
In her studies, she became enthusiastic early on about continuing education and about thinking about individual educational processes and social development in an integrated way. “I was intensely engaged with the environmental conditions under which people can develop and educate themselves.” When she graduated with a degree in media education in 2010, Anna Herbst was certain: “I wanted to do research and pursue an academic career.” She did just that as a fellow in the DFG Research Training Group “Quality improvement in e-learning through feedback processes”. Until the beginning of 2015, she worked as a research assistant in various projects, partly those she had already supervised as a student teaching assistant, advised students in the final phase and trained student teachers.
Kids and change in course
“Change happens sooner or later – that’s why it’s important to help shape it.” This remark, which Anna Herbst drops rather casually, reveals a lot about her basic attitude and which explains a subsequent change of professional course. “I’ve put more and more of my focus in projects on bringing the fruits of research into practical application.” She finds it important to perpetuate what has been proven successful, she stresses – unfortunately not always a given in the science business. “Then the twins came into my life and thoroughly turned it upside down,” Anna Herbst recounts. “All in all, that was the deciding factor for me to reorient myself and to hang up my doctorate – at least for the time being.” When she returned to work just under a year after giving birth, she was on the lookout for a job not tied to projects. “I wanted to do something different than working at the university,” she says, looking back on the phase in which she also completed the one-year advanced training course “Systemische und Lösungsorientierte Beratung“. She examined many options, conducted several job interviews and finally landed: at the other Darmstadt university.
In spring 2015, Anna Herbst took on a one-year parental leave replacement as a student advisor at the h_da’s Student Service Center (SSC). “A one-year contract – that was a really long time coming from my experience,” she says with a laugh. The door that opened after that led her right back into the middle of her long-standing subject. In 2016, she became program manager for the business department’s part-time and dual degree programs at the Continuing Education and Dual Study Center. “And with that,” she says, “I had finally moved from research to practice – but still close to it.”
“I love to get actively involved”
Anna Herbst is involved in education-related working groups, associations and committees, and since 2021 also as a member of the Senate and two Senate committees of the h_da. Making a difference within such structures sometimes requires staying power and tolerance for frustration. Why does she do this to herself? “Because I love to get actively involved and help shape things! For example, on the topic of internationalization, which I consider very important for research and teaching.” Yes, she admits with a smile, she regularly has to readjust her “work-life-family balance,” as she calls it. “But on the whole, it’s very doable. The university is also very helpful as an employer.”
What drives her? “It brings me pleasure when I can enable other people to achieve their goals,” is how the 38-year-old sums it up. Private moments of happiness usually have to do with nature and her children. Anna Herbst likes to travel and hike. “I like the sea and the north - but Slovenia is also great, for example. And South America, of course! I find it exciting how diverse cultures and societies are and how differently people tick.” So curiosity is also reflected in her leisure interests. Whereby paddling and rowing are her favorite hobbies. The Altrhein river arm around the Kühkopf island is her home turf. Whenever possible, she combines water sports and travel once a year. In 2021, she paddled the Telemark Canal in Norway. And as an amateur photographer, she has captured many impressions of nature in her pictures.
New job, next qualification
In October 2021, Anna Herbst started the position as Transfer and Alumni Relations Manager. “This is a new, exciting opportunity for me,” she says happily. “My tasks are now wider ranging and very close to my core topics: transfer is about bringing research and practice together, alumni work is about supporting people on their paths.” She has her work cut out for her: „In the transfer area, I want to support researchers in becoming more visible with their transfer activities, and I want to expand structures and offers in order to initiate new activities in exchange with business and society.”
Anna Herbst was already alumni representative in her previous function. Now she is driving the issue forward from a pivotal position. “I want to provide our alumni with opportunities that fit so that they stay in touch with the university and their time as students enriches them even after they have graduated.” From the end of May, she will continue her training to become an “Alumni Management Officer” – and thus acquire a further qualification from which she, the h_da and its alumni will benefit.