"I've learned more than I expected in less time than I thought."
His voluntary social year in science, technology, and sustainability—FJN for short—was actually supposed to last until the end of August, but Filip Boskamp is leaving the pepperMINT Foundation at Hochschule Offenburg as early as May. The reason: Starting June 1, the 19-year-old will begin an eight-week internship at the aerospace company ArianeGroup in Lampoldshausen. He needs this experience for his aerospace engineering degree program in Munich, which begins in the 2026/27 winter semester.
After his unsuccessful application for the previous winter semester, the Offenburg native is naturally very happy that he was able to secure his dream spot after all. In his view, spending the time leading up to that with an FJN was the best thing that could have happened to him, and he would have liked to continue even longer. “I learned more in a shorter time than I expected,” is Filip Boskamp’s conclusion. While helping organize the seminar course wrap-up, Girls’ Day, and the pepperMINT competition, he learned just how much preparatory work and bureaucracy goes into such events. He’s also now better prepared to handle mishaps and situations beyond his control. “Because even though something always seemed to go wrong, everything turned out fine in the end,” says the 19-year-old, citing as an example the important posters for the trinational student congress, which were finally delivered just one day before the event. Toward the end of his FJN, he was even able to help design new pepperMINT programs, such as STEM school lessons and one-day crash courses at the University to prepare students for the Abitur. Filip Boskamp particularly enjoyed the internships at the University’s various labs and research institutes. “Two things impressed me the most: First, what the students are putting together at Schluckspecht. The energy-efficient vehicle is truly state-of-the-art; the body and everything else are very modern. Second, the research being conducted by doctoral students on industrial robots at the University’s Work-Life Robotics Institute,” he gushes. And the so-called “seminar days,” during which he could meet up with other FJN participants at various locations throughout Germany and reflect on his life, were also a real enrichment for the 19-year-old. “On the one hand, the field trips offered—for example, to a planetarium—felt like being on a school trip all over again—only now with all the freedoms of an adult. On the other hand, grappling with questions like ‘What are my goals, anyway?’, ‘How do I pay my rent?’, or even just ‘How do I cook?’ helped me actually grow up,” he says with conviction.
His very concrete life plan shows that he’s truly an adult. “I’m now going to focus entirely on finishing my bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering—with in-depth practical training at the aerospace company OHB System AG in Oberpfaffenhofen—with a GPA better than 2.0, so that I’ll be admitted to the master’s degree program afterward,” Filip Boskamp announced at his farewell. All of his fellow students are keeping their fingers crossed for him.
pepperMINT Foundation
The pepperMINT Foundation is an initiative of Hochschule Offenburg that has been supporting young talent in STEM fields since November 2023. Together with its educational and foundation partners, pepperMINT organizes projects designed to spark young people’s curiosity about technology. The application period for the next FJN program, starting in September, is still open. Interested students can simply send their application materials via email to peppermint@hs-offenburg.de.