Sarah Madlener

My Name is Sarah Madlener and I am currently working for the Austrian Space Forum. After now almost 3 months it is finally my turn to write a blog entry and tell you what has happened so far. I am a physics student here in Innsbruck and an OeWF member for now around one and a half years. Although this short text will never ever be able to sum up what I´ve learned and experienced in this time, I will still try to give you an overview of my internship.

However, let’s start a little bit earlier, almost one year to be precise, because this was the time when I was in the middle of my first internship for the Austrian Space Forum. When I think back, I can just smile and thank all my colleagues and supervisors for being so patient with me. I simply was a mess back then, to be honest I still can be a mess from time to time, and I am sometimes wonder how I managed to get anything done. But time goes on and many things happened and other things changed. For example, I was part of the AMADEE-18 crew (even as a team lead), finished another year of University and in some way grew up a little bit.

Therefore, I was more confident than last year and so my internship started and I thought I was so ready for it, but you know life never goes as expected and so I had to learn again that maybe I wasn´t as ready as I thought. This time my tasks were totally different, I was not just a normal intern, I was a senior intern with lots of responsibilities and things to remember and coordinate. After a bumpy start I grew more and more into my new role and by now I can say I really enjoy what I do.

Group photo of the A18 test campaign team. (Sarah is on the right)

Despite all my management tasks, I also got the chance to be part of some very interesting projects. For example, I was part of the 18A test campaign, led by Benedikt Stingl, where we worked with EMPA – Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, an outstanding research facility in Switzerland. Additionally, I am right now helping to select the new class of Analog Astronauts for 2019. As you can see it never gets boring in the Lab and if so there are always tasks waiting for you, e.g. cleaning the Aoudas with a toothbrush.

Cleaning shoes with a toothbrush

One last thing I´d like to talk about are my colleagues. This year I had the luck to work the whole summer and therefore to meet all the interns for this period. It was one of the most amazing and fun times I´ve ever had, just because of these guys and girls. With them it never felt like working and every hour flew by. Sadly, almost everyone has finished their internship by now and I am one the last (wo)man standing. However, the memories stay and sometimes I catch myself smiling because of some silly joke I remember from them. A big shout out to the friends I made and people I met, who now have a place in my heart for sure. You guys are awesome and I thank you for the time I got to spent with you!

When co-workers become friends

Lots of love,
Your “Sahara”

Author: Sarah Madlener