What‘s your name?
Hi:) My name is Freya Knierim.

Where were you born?
I was born in 2003 in an old house in Saulgrub. It’s a very small village in the middle of the German mountains about two hours away from Munich.

Something on the theme: what does it mean to you?
Taking heart – Finding our way together. The theme of our conference is so wide-ranging that sometimes I can’t even grasp it. “Finding our way together” is not just something we can do by meeting up at the Goetheanum, it’s a guideline that our whole society should follow. For a positive future we all need to take heart and believe in the good ways. 
For me the theme of our conference means that we need to push ourselves out of our comfort zones to find the crossroads that connect us so we can walk our path together. Not just on our own and caring only for ourselves but by looking out for the people around us.
I do have the hope that walking together makes us strong enough to face the world‘s challenges. I think the theme invites us all to gather our strenghts and look forward to our common future.

What occupies your mind?
Sometimes I think back to the time when I was between 14 and 18 years old. During this period I was very preoccupied and interested in socio-political issues. Whether climate change, animal welfare, injustice or just the German politics, there was a fire burning inside me that made me fight. Made me going out on the street, writing lyrics, starting projects and above all a fire that made me know that every little thing counts.
And although that time is not long ago, and I’m still interested in all these topics and many more, the fire has become smaller, almost just a glow and I wonder how I can make it burn again. Because even though I’m still firmly convinced that our world, the animals that inhabit it, and even us, human beings, deserve something better, I’m watching myself more and more often with the idea in my mind that it’s politics that needs to change something. I am more and more concerned with my future, my happiness and not with ours. Yeah, that’s something that’s really occupying my mind at the moment. Why do I find myself fighting less and less?

What is your most marked characteristic?
Recently I got a similar question from students in my emergency medical course and I really tried to think about what to say to them. To my surprise I struggled to come up with an answer that I was happy with. So I thought about what my friends would say about me and honestly I think it’s my genuine smile and natural joyfulness. Also my inner strength and restlessness are both probably a trademark of mine. However, I‘m curious what you might think 😉