Conny

What do the words "only human" mean to you?

For me it means the literal meaning. We are all only human. Race, color, gender, religion, sexual orientation really don’t matter. And that’s how I try to approach every person. I know I too have preconceived ideas of how to view certain groups of people but I’m working hard on ignoring those and approaching everyone openly and just as a human

What are you passionate about?

I am passionate about music, I love making spotify playlists for all different kinds of moods I can be in.

I love traveling, especially to the US (I am from Germany). My godmother is from Ohio so I had a connection to the US my whole life. In 2009 I lived in Oklahoma for 6 months, and even though there is obviously not much to do there, I was lucky to get the best host family imaginable. My host mom is still my best friend 11 years later and I’ve now visited the States 15 times.

I was also able to have a semester abroad in Hong Kong during university which was an amazing time and I want to see so much more of the world.

I’m passionate about politics, but mostly those topics that have an impact on us, just like women rights, gun violence, LGBTQ right, racism, abortion, climate change and those things that directly have an impact on so many people.

I’m passionate about sports. I play handball since I was five years old. But I also love soccer, basketball, football and many more (GO OKC Thunder)

I had some struggles with my dad growing up and we never had an actual father-daughter relationship. That led to a lot of family issues growing up and made me think I’m not much of a family person. In the last few years I have learned about myself that I’m very passionate about my family, especially since my brother became a dad which wasn’t planned and I got the cutest little nephew.

What makes you the happiest?

I’m the happiest when I’m traveling. Preferably with friends but even by myself because in my experience it’s always been easy to make new friends when traveling. Just experiencing new countries and cultures and not worrying about your job/household etc for a while is so freeing.

Other than that I’m happiest playing handball. Started playing when I was 5, 23 years ago. Grew up with a lot of girls I’m still playing with today and I love it.

Also music always makes me happy.

In the last five years, what new belief, behavior, or habit has most improved your life?

Opening up to my family and rebuilding our relationships

RUNNING! I’ve always done sports, mostly handball. But I’ve started to run super regularly, setting goals to run 500km, 700 km and lasty 1000km per year. The impact was great on my body and I could feel getting fitter, but the impact was even bigger on my mind. Doing things you didn’t think you were able to and sticking to things in order to reach a goal is so powerful.

How do you keep yourself positively inspired during overwhelming times?

I do struggle with that sometimes, but I would mostly say trying not to get to sucked into it. Meeting friends, visiting family or just going out for a run or walk. And celebrate the little things.

If you could spend a day in someone else’s shoes, whose would they be? Why?

My brother’s shoes.

We have always been very close. Coming from a small town with not much to do, he tends to drink every weekend with his friends and that’s like the one thing he does.

He also became a great dad, but it seems like he sometimes misses his “freedom”.

I would love to see the world from his perspective and understand.

What book (or books) have greatly influenced your life?

I don’t have one, sorry

What’s your favorite quote?

“Live the questions now” for short or for the longer version “I want to beg you, as much as I can, dear sir, to be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.”

I get anxious because of uncertainty. Right after highschool I had no idea what to do with my life and I hated that feeling. Everyone else seemed to have figured it out. This quote dealt with exactly that feeling. I have the short version tattooed as a reminder that it is okay to have open questions that cannot be answered yet and we can embrace them instead of fearing them.

What is your most-used emoji?

,,,, ,

but most used is just the very basic thumps-up

What would be your advice to a human who just graduated from high school and was about to enter the "real world"?

You got time. It seems like a lot right now and regardless whether you already do or don’t know what you want to do next, there is no hurry. You don’t have to have it all figured out now just because you’re graduated. If you want to take a gap year, do it. You already know what you want to go for university for, do it. You don’t want to go to university, that’s cool. You’ll figure it out, take your time and breath. It’ll be fine.