Marie-Sophie Schwarzer

Marie-Sophie Schwarzer covers the Baruch Houses on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Since childhood, Marie-Sophie Schwarzer has lived in cosmopolitan environments. She was born in Dusseldorf, Germany. Her parents, both working in the fashion industry, were constantly traveling; Marie-Sophie went to an international school where she was taught in English and met people from various different countries.  Through school, she traveled to Tanzania to teach English to children and to Thailand where she did the same in an orphanage.  These international experiences motivated her to study abroad after graduating from high school in 2007.

She left Germany for England, where she attended Durham University. There, she studied English, politics (international relations) and art history. She was also writing for her university newspaper and was an editor for The Hatfielder Magazine, a local publication.

In her senior year of university, Marie-Sophie traveled to Nepal to volunteer again. Her trips left strong memories that she will never forget. Working with orphans opened her eyes to the idea of telling stories. “Everyone has a story,” she says; everyone has something interesting about themselves that is worth listening to and paying attention to in general.  This experience prompted her to apply to journalism school. With this goal in mind, Marie-Sophie interned at several news organizations,  including a German newspaper called Rheinische Post.

Today, she studies journalism at Columbia University in New York City, a “dream come true” she says. Aside from training to be a journalist, Marie-Sophie also plays the piano and engages in sports activities such as soccer, tennis and ballet. Marie-Sophie Schwarzer is confident that this year in New York City is going to provide her with the knowledge and life experience she needs to pursue her journalistic career.

You can follow Marie-Sophie Schwarzer on Twitter – @MarieSophieS