The dreams of youth

Timo Birn, 18
I go to a natural sciences high school; I’m in the twelfth grade. Next year I’ll receive my high school diploma, then I’m going to university to study process engineering, just like my father. When a product is created out of a raw material, like fuel out of crude oil, I think that’s exciting—chemistry is my favorite subject.My dream would be to have a little house in the suburbs, live there with my wife and two children, with lots of green all around. That might sound corny, but I don’t think I’m corny. I ride a BMX, play drums in a band and work at the youth center. I like life in the suburbs. I live with my brother and my parents in Rüppur, that’s a part of Karlsruhe where lots of families live. When I was younger I used to play in the woods here with the other children, then later I started going into the city with my friends. That’s less than twenty minutes by train. I’ve always felt at home here and that’s what I want to offer my own children.

Ernst Albrecht von Woellwarth, 18
I know this super DJ who has a nightclub and is idolized by all the girls. That’s my dream. I want to own a nightclub, but not some run-down joint. It’s got to be sophisticated, in a city center. I’ll hire the best DJs, the most beautiful women will come, and the best ravers. I’ll earn real money and start a family. But that’s just a dream. How could I possibly achieve that? Right now I’m doing a commercial apprenticeship and on Saturdays I mess around with cars or help my parents on their organic farm.

Victoria Reize, 16
Ever since I can remember I’ve wanted to work with animals. I go to high school and I had planned to finish after my secondary school certificate. That’s enough to be a zookeeper. Then in the summer I did an internship at the Wilhelma zoo in Stuttgart. I liked the elephants most. Amazing animals, so big, they remind you of dinosaurs. But interns aren’t allowed in with the elephants. I got to work with the reptiles, snakes, frogs and geckos. It was interesting but you can’t build a relationship with them. Once I took a tortoise to the vet; it had a cold and had to have an injection. Apart from that it was just hard work: just cleaning and feeding. To be honest, it put me off my dream job. I have decided now to do my high school diploma and study fashion design. I’m not a model type, I tend to dress casual, with shaggy hair and long T-shirts. But fashion designer sounds good, it’s a creative career.

Anna-Darina Jarmatz, 20
My dream? I’d like to find a clever, successful, loving man, marry him and have two children. I would be a good mother, loved and respected.We would live in a large and venerable old house that I would tastefully decorate, with a maid to do the housework, and a library. I would be a lawyer, speak fluent Swedish and Japanese, understand stock broking and trade in real estate.We would eat only the healthiest foods, drive a black Porsche Cayenne, spend the summer in Marbella by the sea, and Christmas in New York.

Manshu Rhan Park, 15
I play the guitar and I would like to become a musician. I’m into Japanese rock and Korean pop; my role model is a Japanese musician called Miyavi.My friends, the ones I have got to know at the Korean Association in Karlsruhe, have the same style as I do. Maybe I could also be an actor or a model. I like to be the center of attention. And I would earn so much money that I could support a family. But I don’t want to get stressed. By stress I mean pressure of time, pressure to perform, having to do what others want me to do. I also hope that mankind will be able to save the earth. People are incredibly reckless, they have destroyed so much.