Between school, readings and Bergfest
Training to become a digital and print media specialist at our company takes two and a half years. During this time, our trainees pass through many departments and gain practical experience. For the theoretical part of their training, they attend the Mediacampus twice for nine weeks. This is the central training and further education facility for the book industry below the beautiful Lohrberg hill in Frankfurt. In addition to training as digital and print media clerks and booksellers, it also offers further training and courses in business administration and e-commerce. As a result, there are often over 100 people on campus at the same time.
Our trainee Olivia has now completed her first of two school blocks and gives an insight into this time.
I spent my first school block at the Mediacampus from the beginning of May to the beginning of July. Those nine weeks were
turbulent! The special thing was that we all lived on campus and were able to fully enjoy boarding school life.
On my first day, I got to know my class, with whom I was housed on the same floor. I shared my room with two other classmates. It was a strange situation for us at first, but it brought us all closer together over time. We quickly got used to each other. Eating together in the canteen and sharing bathrooms also became more and more normal as the days went by.
Even though we spent a lot of time together, there was always room for some privacy. We could leave the grounds after lessons, go to the Lohrberg or drive into the city. The perfect balance to the busy days.
The lessons took place daily from 08:15 to 16:30 and were interspersed with breaks. My lessons included subjects such as marketing, book distribution, world literature, industry basics, labor and social law, politics, production, but also accounting and business law, as this is a commercial apprenticeship. Through workshops and group work, the lecturers enabled us to put the very theoretical material into practice, so that at the end of the nine weeks we were fit for the nine exams that were written in different subjects. Our class was very interested in InDesign in addition to the traditional learning content, so we also took part in an InDesign course after the lessons.
The so-called Bergfest took place in the middle of the block. We celebrated under the motto “Be your book”, which was chosen by the events group. Our class dressed up as different genres - from science fiction to children's books, everything was included and it was a lot of fun.
In addition to the Events Club, the campus also offers the Bookshop Club, the Shop Window Club and the Library Club. Interested students were able to engage in practical book-related activities and were awarded a certificate at the end.
The evening events were a highlight at the Mediacampus. Up to three times a week, we were visited by different publishers, authors or other players from the book industry, who enriched us with a lot of knowledge and reading copies. At the end of the block, I went
home with about 30 books. One of my classmates even sent hers home in a package because they didn't fit in her suitcase.
My time at the Mediacampus was challenging, but also very enjoyable! I had the chance to meet wonderful people and have great encounters with people from the industry. In January, I will return to the campus for another nine weeks - this time as a senior. I'm looking forward to the impressions to come!