A look into our past, present and future
As the 12 Victorian recipients of 2019/20 settle back into school or university in Australia, we continue to take a look at what has become of some of our many hundreds of Aussie GASSies from the past 52 years. Today we look at Lisa Haintz, who has called Europe home for many years; Belgium, Germany and now Switzerland!
An Interview with Lisa
Year of exchange: 1981/1982
School: PLC, Melbourne
Sponsor: Hoechst
Town / city of exchange in Germany: Grebenhain (Vogelsberg region, north of Frankfurt)
A memory from your exchange: Cross-country skiing in the fields around our home; GASS winter camp on the youth hostel ship in Travemünde
Studies on return from exchange: Arts (German) and Law, Melbourne University
Lisa is pictured in Cologne (left photo) with some of her fellow stipis. On the left is Louise Howell from Perth, then Lisa, Alistair Craig, Janet Watson, Tim Morris, Sophie Holloway, Cecily Ward, Joanne from Adelaide, Michelle Kingdon from Mt Gambier and Carolyn Ranford.
Career path since then: Melbourne law firm, Brussels law firm, Deutsche Bank (Frankfurt), United Nations Compensation Commission (Geneva), World Health Organization (Geneva) since 2007
What are you doing now? I am working as a lawyer in the WHO Legal Office doing commercial work in an international setting.
How the SAGSE exchange experience influenced your life's journey:
The exchange enabled me to get to know and love Germany (the country from which my own ancestors emigrated to Australia in the 1850s) and the German language. I was fortunate to experience living and working in Frankfurt for four years from 1991-1995. I have made many lasting friendships through the exchange. I really enjoy going back to Germany to visit old friends and discover new places. Living in Switzerland makes it easier to do this.
Further comments: I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in the SAGSE exchange. I hope that present and future scholarship recipients will benefit as greatly as I did from the experience.
Lisa is pictured during a recent visit to Frankfurt am Main.