Alumni Update: Fricka Lindemann (Class of 2018)
From Freiburg to Vienna: Fricka’s Journey of Community, Responsibility, and Redesign
When Fricka first heard about UWC, it was in a random YouTube video—one she had no idea would end up changing the course of her life. Growing up in Berlin, she had dreamed of doing a high school exchange in the US, but when that wasn’t financially possible, fate had other plans. “It wasn’t even sponsored content,” she laughs. “Just a guest mentioning her sister’s experience at a UWC. I had never heard of it before.” That unexpected moment eventually led her to UWC Robert Bosch College, where she arrived in 2016.
Two years later, Fricka graduated as part of the Class of 2018 and reflecting on her time in Freiburg, she remembers not just the academic rigor but the rhythm of community life: “There was always something happening, people to meet, conversations to join, late-night tea in the common room. It took me one year to learn managing FOMO.” Balancing UWC’s “Sleep, Study, Socialize” trinity wasn’t easy. “I always missed the fourth S — Self-care,” she admits. “It wasn’t easy to make space for being present and in touch with myself.” Her memories of RBC are filled with both joy and reflection, including spontaneous dance lessons, late-night talks, unexpected friendships. “Those random moments of connection were everything,” she says. “We talked about everything and nothing. That’s what I really miss.”
Creating change rooted in communities
After graduation, Fricka joined Semester at Sea, traveling across continents with fellow UWC alumni and students from the US. “It was transformative — and disorienting,” she recalls. “Most students were from the US and had never lived abroad. We, UWC alumni, were put into the role of cultural ambassadors. Still, the friendships with other UWCers made it worthwhile. We formed our own little global community onboard.” In 2019, Fricka moved to Minnesota to study at St. Olaf College, one of the UWC Davis partner universities. Majoring in Race and Ethnic Studies and Political Science, she found herself studying systemic injustice amid real-world events. “The murder of George Floyd really defined my understanding of systemic violence, not in theory, but in life,” she says. “Seeing people respond to it in real time was eye-opening.” By graduation in 2022, she knew the kind of change she wanted to create: one rooted in communities. Moving to Vienna, she found a place that blended culture, activism, and creativity. “I wanted to make a home somewhere I could contribute,” she explains. “In the US, as a non-citizen, I couldn’t fully engage politically. Here, I feel like I can actually make a difference.” Fricka earned a master’s degree in Social Design at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, focusing on how public spaces can foster equity and inclusion. “Social design isn’t about shiny new innovations,” she says. “It’s about doing things better and reimagining how cities can serve everyone.”
Today, her work bridges education, community, and design. With one organization, she leads political education workshops across Austria, often in schools, on bystander intervention and extremism prevention, helping people recognize their own agency. In parallel, she works on participatory urban design projects, guiding residents to reimagine their neighbourhoods. “We show people that public space belongs to them,” she explains. “Sometimes that means setting up a community garden or navigating bureaucracy to make a street safer. It sounds dry, but it’s really about empowerment.” And somehow, Fricka has also become “a bit like Angus”, the beloved former RBC staff member who ran the bike program. “I work as a bike teacher now,” she says with a smile and adds “I mostly teach kids and migrant women helping people gain confidence on a bike. It’s about mobility, belonging, and access.”
An intentional comunity
When asked what she misses most about RBC, she doesn’t hesitate. “The feeling of living in an intentional community,” she says. “Here, my neighbours are kind, but we don’t share that same purpose. At RBC, everyone was there with intention. That sense of shared values, I really miss that.” And yet, she carries it forward. Through classrooms and neighbourhoods, through bikes and benches, Fricka continues to make education, and design, a force to unite people for peace and a sustainable future.
