Gabriele and Karl-Ludwig Soll celebrate their very personal anniversary within the anniversary year of Freie Universität, which is closely connected to their Alma mater. Even though the two had known each other since high school in Bielefeld, it was their time at Freie Universität that brought them together. Three years after graduating from school, their paths were to cross in Berlin and the initially low interest in each other developed into a "study romance" that even surprised their friends at home - and still exists today, 30 years later.

Mrs. Gabriele Soll answered our questions. She studied Business Administration on diploma.

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What special memories do you have from your time at Freie Universität?

Living in Berlin during the fall of the Wall. As members of the local AIESEC committee having many international visitors and trips. Experiencing the “strike-semester” in the winter 1987/1988 and having extreme freedom to attend or not to attend classes very unlike for our kids at US colleges these days.

What is the most important thing you learned here?

Self-organizational skills, persistence, team-work; how to study, technical skills in accounting and auditing (Prof. Egner), Management skills (Prof. Staehle) and Business Psychology (Prof. Liebmann).

For my husband, Karl-Ludwig: Organizations of the UN System (Prof. Hübner) since he works at the UN now.

What advice would you give your younger self today?

Study hard but also enjoy the freedom of the university years, make lots of friends and study abroad in some form.