8:30 am
The first thing you notice when entering Esselborn‘s office is a diaper changing table - and a lovingly compiled collection of information material and books for children and adolescents. It quickly becomes clear that anyone looking for advice and help at the Service for Families office is welcome here.
Like many others, the first thing she does in the morning is check e-mails. Esselborn receives a lot of inquiries every day, most of them in writing. “After all, we are talking about the challenge of being able to combine work or studies well with care tasks. This is also not easy from a counselling perspective. Although I’ve been working here for more than ten years, I still learn something new every day to be able to provide information for all status groups. Be it for students, for whom I am researching compensation for disadvantages or leave of absence in the event of pregnancy or due to a specific family situation or be it for employees in terms of parental leave. An overarching topic that is currently occupying me very much is the care for relatives.” The concerns of those seeking advice are as diverse as the tasks of the counselling center, which is mainly run by Esselborn, supported and accompanied by a large network of local and national cooperation partners, networks, and colleagues at the University of Potsdam. “I am passionate about the fact that there is social togetherness – and that is only possible through networking. Family-friendliness can only be implemented together, something many forget,” Esselborn explains. The numerous inquiries often result in meetings that usually start at 9 am and last until noon.
12:30 pm
The lunch break and the walk to the cafeteria are part of the everyday work routine for one reason in particular: As a “lone fighter” in the family service, meetings are an important part of regularly exchanging and coming up with ideas that one would not have alone in front of a desk. One such jointly developed project, which fills Esselborn with both pride and verve, is the “Coffee to Care” information series on care topics, which was launched in 2024 and will be continued in 2025 with a “Lunch to Care”, which is intended to bring employees with care responsibilities together in their lunch break for a professionally accompanied, informative exchange of experiences over lunch.
From 01:00 pm
After that, there are often meetings inside or outside the university. In addition to advising people individually, committee work, and networking, she spends much time on her tasks in the family policy commission of the Federal Conference of Women’s and Equal Opportunity Officers at Universities (bukof), and as a board member of the association “Familie in der Hochschule” (Family at University), of which the university is a founding member. “It sometimes feels like juggling with lots of balls in the air. Sometimes one falls down and it is not always possible to satisfy everyone equally. But I’ll stay on it!” Esselborn, who as a cultural scientist used to work until late in the evening and was on the road a lot, still has a hard time with the rather rigid administrative structures.
There is no such thing as “a day carved in stone”; instead she appreciates and lives the creative freedom that her work offers. This is the only way to implement projects such as “Allein – Tatort Schule” (Alone – Crime Scene School), which she organized together with Winnie-Karen Giera's Chair of Inclusive German Didactics. The play on the topic of bullying was performed in 2023 as part of the Unicamp by primary school children of university members and was an enriching experience for everyone involved. It is precisely this commitment that distinguishes Esselborn and the Service for Families – every day anew.
Further information: https://www.uni-potsdam.de/de/service-fuer-familien/service-fuer-familien
This text was published in the university magazine Portal - One 2025 „Children“.