Dear prospective Master's students, choosing the right Master's degree program is not easy and should be carefully considered. During my Bachelor's degree, I studied history and politics and already focused on Latin America (especially Mexico) and the relevance of oil as an energy source for our society. The special focus of the Master's in Atlantic Studies/History, Culture and Society, i.e. examining the extremely diverse regions of Africa, Europe and Latin America, which have been linked for centuries, enabled me to further deepen my personally chosen topics and also to write my Master's thesis on them. I dealt with the current privatization of the Mexican oil sector, public perception and reporting in the country's major daily newspapers. At the same time, I was able to use my stay abroad at the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Mexico City for the research and thus gather various assessments directly on site. In preparing for this internship and applying for a scholarship, I was able to rely on the full support of those responsible for the degree program. In the summer of 2015, I was able to work in Mexico City for a total of three months and, in addition to my research, had the opportunity to accompany a major international conference. The focus was on the topics of socio-economic change, the changed and more sustainable use of energy sources and raw materials, and the digitalization of the economy. For both my Master's thesis and the internship, the content and working techniques taught during my studies helped me to broaden my understanding of Mexico in particular. In particular, the holistic approach to topics and the inclusion of different subject areas are the special features of the Master's in Atlantic Studies/History, Culture and Society and also support me in my current job. Since spring 2016, I have been working for the German Mining, Chemical and Energy Industrial Union (IG BCE) and am completing an 18-month trainee program to become a political trade union secretary. This includes a distance learning course in individual labor law, seminars on collective labor law, negotiation and rhetoric, energy policy, Industry 4.0, demographic change and works council work. After the program, my tasks at the trade union will consist of working with a wide variety of companies and, among other things, concluding collective agreements, negotiating interest and social plans and conducting political education on a wide range of topics. Even though my job currently has little international focus, the specialist knowledge I acquired during my studies and the ability to work and research systematically are irreplaceable for me. In addition, the varied tasks, the need to prepare for a topic in detail and to consider and grasp different aspects of a topic were very good preparation and promoted the development of important key qualifications that will bring me many advantages in my job as a political secretary.

Alexander Roeske (Graduate)