Back to the roots: Former boarding school student Michel Hermens is now the head of the house

 

You must have felt extremely at home in your school environment to decide that you wanted to work there later on. That was the case for Michel Hermens. From 2004 to 2008, the native Dutchman lived in the Stamm- and Westfalenhaus at the Steinmühle boarding school. He returned to that very place and is now the head of the Mühle.

Born in Eindhoven in 1987, he came to Germany at the age of three and “didn’t understand a word.” A Philips plant in Wetzlar was the reason his parents moved to Central Hesse. They had imagined their son’s school career would go more smoothly. According to Michel, stress at school—and consequently within the family—led them to enroll him at the Steinmühle boarding school.

After 12 years of school, he wanted to break away from the daily school routine and become more active. With his vocational diploma in hand, he planned to pursue an apprenticeship in the hospitality industry. However, the young man’s expectations of this career field did not pan out. He then completed a voluntary social year at an elementary school, working in before- and after-school care and handling administrative tasks. This successful experience subsequently inspired him to study to become an elementary school teacher in his native Netherlands.

That wasn’t the end of it. Michel Hermens found himself drawn back to Marburg. Back to his roots. In 2012, he financed an internship at the Steinmühle boarding school by working at a gas station. “It felt like coming home, walking down Steinmühlenweg again.”

 

“I see myself in the students themselves”

 

It went without saying: I’m staying here. Michel Hermens had to admit, however, that quite a bit had changed. Although the boarding school had already housed boys and girls together in the Westfalen- and Hessenhaus during his own school days, the house meetings were still held separately. The resident teacher for the boys in the house was a male staff member, while the girls were supervised by a female staff member.

There were also personnel changes, as was to be expected at the time. Rowing coach Martin “Stromi” Strohmenger was an assistant at the Westfalenhaus back then. Michel Hermens knew the boarding school director from his earlier days as a teacher. Of the rest of the teaching staff, two were still there.

He hit it off with the students right away. “I quickly realized that we had a good connection,” says Michel Hermens, looking back on the early days of his return. “For many students, I became a trusted figure right away.” The man, who initially worked as an assistant at Mühle and Hessenhaus, reflects on his own past today: “I see myself in the students.”

He says that the challenges—even in tricky situations—are what make the job particularly enjoyable and rewarding. He views many of the changes in a positive light. “The social aspect,” says Hermens, “has really developed at Steinmühle Boarding School. The study center also opens up opportunities that didn’t exist before.”

The athletic Dutchman, who once felt the urge to move around, has (once again) found peace at Steinmühle Boarding School. He is able to instill this sense of “inner peace” in his students. Nevertheless, he still travels home regularly to visit his family in Maastricht. And on vacation, he goes to special places with unique landscapes. For Michel Hermens, even on vacation, things don’t have to be ordinary, normal, or run-of-the-mill. One of his favorite places: the Azores.