EMPLOYEE PORTRAIT
Rahel Studer, Logistics Assistant and In-House Medic Rahel Studer joined the Swisspearl team as a logistics apprentice four years ago. Now twenty, she continues to exercise her organizational talents from the warehouse to the office. She enjoys the variety of switching between tasks. “It’s great to do different things, instead of the same ones all the time,” she says, with obvious satisfaction. Her newest challenge is training as an in-house emergency medical officer. The Swisspearl facility maintains a team of first responders on call around the clock. Accidents and illnesses are a reality in any workplace, but as Rahel points out, “We make sure to stay on the safe side.” Both her older sister and her grandmother are professional paramedics, but that’s not the only family tradition Rahel is keeping up. Her grandfather, a dedicated mountaineer, passed his passion for the heights on to his three sons. Rahel began climbing with her father at the age of six. He taught her how to handle the ropes and picks, and how to read the changeable mountain weather. More recently, she has added rock climbing and bouldering to her repertoire. During the long winter off-season, she and her friends meet at the climbing gym to socialize while they train. Between March and October, she can be found in the mountains nearly every weekend. Her favorite local destination is the Tödi, at 3,614 meters the highest peak of the nearby Glarus Alps. As she tells it, the thrill of high altitudes and sheer rock faces can be addictive. Following in her family’s footsteps, though, she has learned to keep her balance and her nerves. Whether working as the only woman in an all-male team, handling a medical emergency, or navigating the narrowest of alpine trails, Rahel is quietly fearless. “If you panic, it’s all over. You just have to concentrate and keep going, and everything will be alright.” Marcy Goldberg
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