Alumni Spotlight: Sophia Kilian (Class of 2018)
From projector troubleshooting at RBC to shaping climate policy in Freiburg — a journey rooted in courage, clarity, and community trust.
When Sophia arrived at UWC Robert Bosch College, she wasn’t the loudest voice in the room. “I didn’t even raise my hand in class that first term,” she recalls. But somewhere between supporting assemblies with event tech, learning to communicate across cultures, and experiencing a community that trusted her expertise, Sophia found her voice. And she’s using it.
After RBC, Sophia spent a year in the US before returning to Freiburg, diving headfirst into climate activism with Fridays for Future. “I started organizing speakers for local events, then for all of Germany,” she says. Before long, she was co-writing policy proposals to improve environmental standards in Freiburg. Her commitment didn’t go unnoticed. In 2021, at just 21 years old, Sophia was asked (repeatedly) to consider running for city council with Junges Freiburg, a youth-led, environmentally focused association. “At first, I said, no way. I hated speaking in front of people,” she laughs. But as peers encouraged her, she found the confidence to step forward. Last year, Sophia was elected to the Freiburg city council, where she now serves under the Green Party while continuing her academic journey in engineering, with a PhD on the horizon. Her goals are clear: making Freiburg’s streets safer and greener, expanding bike lanes, and finally closing the notoriously chaotic Rempartstraße to car traffic.
“Sometimes it’s the small steps that create the biggest impact,” she shares. “At RBC, people trusted me with responsibilities. They listened when I spoke. It gave me the confidence to trust myself — and to act on what I believe is right.” Sophia also openly communicates her experience as an autistic person, a journey that began with her diagnosis while at RBC. “The trust and understanding I received from the community there taught me it’s okay to communicate my needs. It changed how I move through the world.”
At just 24, Sophia’s work is a reminder that change often begins in the places we call home, built one conversation, one bike lane, and one policy at a time. And in the spirit of giving back, Sophia was one of the first ones to generously donate to the RBC’s Alumni Challenge announced at the 10th Anniversary, helping future students access the same opportunities that shaped her path.
