Lena Wagner

Joint MA in Intercultural German Studies

Where and what did you study before you came to Germanic and Slavic Studies at the University of Waterloo?

I studied German Studies: Language, Literature and Media at the University of Mannheim and did a semester abroad at Linnaeus University in Växjö, Sweden.

What are your interests in German Studies?

I first started with German Studies because I was interested in literature. Surprisingly that changed relatively quickly during my studies, and I became more interested in linguistics.

Why did you choose the University of Waterloo?

I chose the IcGS program, which is a joined degree offered by University of Mannheim (Germany) and University of Waterloo. Originally, I was supposed to spend three months in Canada starting in March 2020, but this was not possible due to COVID. I am therefore even more grateful and happy to now be able to spend an entire year here.

Do you already know what you want to write your thesis on?

I am not quite sure yet, but I would like to focus on linguistics in the field of online communication.

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I had several dreams: I wanted to work at the police (but only if I could ride a really fast motorcycle), become a journalist, author or pastry chef with a own little café.

What is a fun fact about you?

Although I've tried some of the above jobs (more or less)  - I never did my motorcycle license. Not at least because I later trained as an EMT-I (Rettungssanitäterin).