Benjamin Brown
Benjamin was born to and raised by British parents in Munich in 1998 and thus grew up in a multicultural and bilingual
environment. Benjamin was interested in politics from an early age assuming various roles in pupil representative forums such
as chairing the Bavarian body of student representatives, the Landesschülerrat.
Growing up in a travel-loving family has potentially had the biggest influence on Benjamin as he has a deep interest in
international relations and social structures throughout the world. Combining this passion with journalism has been Benjamin’s
aim for a long time, enabling him to work on media projects in Germany, the UK, Japan, the Middle East and across Latin
America. He has worked for a number of publications and hopes to continue working as an active freelance-journalist in the
future.
Starting winter 2017, Benjamin studies Political Science at Munich’s LMU and is thrilled to complement his studies with an
active involvement in the Model United Association Munich.
Manuela Castellanos
Manuela was born and raised in Bogota the capital of Colombia. She went to a German School in which she learned to speak German, English and French. When she was eight years old she lived one year in Aachen and went to school there in order to improve her German. She also did a student exchange in Hannover where she realized that she wanted to study in Germany. Besides she loves to travel and learn more about other cultures.
She has been interested in political and social problems since she was a child and she likes to be socially engaged. Her goal is to work as a politician and thus help to improve the situation of her country. In order to learn more about the work of a politician, she did an internship in the office of a member of the German parliament. She also participated in two MUN that were organized by her School and one that was organized by the French school in Colombia. Then she realized that she wanted to study politics for sure. Therefore, she is studying politics at the LMU. Working as a receptionist at a law firm woke her interest in law. This is why Manuela is looking forward to start studies in law as well. She wants to learn more about the diplomatic work and international affairs and knows that being part of MUNAM will be an enriching experience. Thus Manuela is very exited to be part of this year´s MUNAM delegation.
Svenja Chen
Svenja was born in Munich in 1996 and also grew up in Shanghai and Beijing. She went to a German School abroad, to a boarding school in England and graduated at Gymnasium Fürstenried in Munich. Due to her German-Chinese mixed background, Svenja learned to interact in different cultures from an early age. She experienced people with different mentalities and cultural backgrounds and naturally became curious about the differences and similarities between their views and opinions. In High School Svenja participated in international MUN Conferences, which lead to her developing a passion for international politics and diplomacy. Her general interest in other cultures and people lead her to go on a year abroad to Beijing Language and Culture University, where she met students from all over the world. The experiences she made during this year were a confirmation that Svenja would always want to work and live in an international environment. She is now studying law at LMU, which teaches her the German and International ground rules, upon which policies can be developed. MUN is a perfect opportunity to combine her passion for politics and her interest in other cultures. She looks forward to an enriching and fun year with the MUNAM Delegation of 2017/18.
Clemens Ganzert
Being born in Munich, Clemens partially spent his childhood in Oregon, USA. The differences in culture between the two countries established his interest in global concerns. From 6th grade on he was part of a class for especially gifted and unusually engaged students at Maria-Theresia-Gymnasium Munich. There, he got in touch with other students that have a similar mindset in several topics. In 11th grade, he first took part in a MUN conference and ever since shares the passion of all MUNers for debates, speeches and geopolitics. To cool down from the heat of an intense debate he does lots of physical activities, such as running and handball. Other interests include philosophy, history and psychology, whilst he thrives in the joy of travelling and enjoys art of any kind. Through his participation in the “International Moot Court for high school students” he first got in touch with the subject of law, which he now studies at the LMU. Because of his vast political interest, he became a member of MUNAM to connect with like-minded people who pursue changing the world on a political level, especially in international forums. Clemens looks forward to improving his rhetorical skills, expanding his MUN experience and developing additional negotiation techniques.
Michael Habbe
Michael was born in 1995 and raised in the small village of Löhne in North Rhine-Westphalia. Whilst he was at school, he developed a passion for theatre and was a member of the school’s theatre group for six
years. He took an active interest in the political organisation of the school as a member of the school ́s student union as well as head boy of his year group. His first major contact with wider politics was during his internship at the German Parliament in 10th
grade. After graduating, he decided to take a year off, which he spent living in Berlin. He backpacked through Europe for six weeks, which provided him with an insight into numerous other places and cultures, deepening his interest in intercultural awareness and communication. He then decided to expand his knowledge in these areas as well as his general understanding of the world by moving to Munich and studying Political Science and Economics at the LMU. Michael is looking forward to learning more about the UN, especially exploring international law, which he knows will be invaluable knowledge for a Master’s in International Relations, which he hopes to pursue in the coming years.
Eva Henning
Born in 1997, Eva grew up in a small village in Northern Bavaria. From an early age, she has been very interested in other languages and soon developed a passion for different countries and cultures. While still at high school, Eva participated in several long-term exchange programs to France, the UK and Australia, where she spent three months as a scholar of the Society for Australian-German Student Exchange. Moreover, Eva was twice selected as a youth ambassador by UK-German Connection and was involved in several bilateral projects aiming to increase understanding between young people in both countries. Upon her high school graduation in June 2015, Eva took a gap year in order to further improve her English and Spanish language skills and to become fully aware of her future career choice. After an internship in New Zealand and a Spanish language course in Guatemala, she took part in the Intensive English Program at Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA. During that time, Eva was the head of the Language and Culture Program Leadership Council and successfully took on tasks to foster internationalisation on campus. Her stays abroad significantly shaped Eva’s view of others and of cultural diversity and helped her arrive at the decision to become a foreign language teacher. Eva now is in her second year at the LMU, pursuing a secondary education degree in English, French and child psychology. In her free time, Eva enjoys playing piano, singing and spending time outdoors. As a member of the Delegation of 2017/18, she is very much looking forward to working with an interdisciplinary team and is proud to represent MUNAM e. V. at conferences in Munich and abroad.
Lisa Hoffäller
Lisa was born and raised in a small village near Munich in 1993. Growing up in a small town, her passion in getting to know new cultures, languages and views on life increased throughout the years. After graduating in 2012, Lisa decided to spend some time abroad before deciding which studies to pursue. After spending some time in Michigan, United States working as an Au Par, Lisa traveled to Colombia to work as an English and German teacher in a small Colombian town. With her mind full of new impressions and valuable experiences she moved to Munich in 2013 and started her studies of political science and communication science at LMU Munich. Taking a break from studying, Lisa spent over half a year in Brighton, UK where she gained wonderful experiences in the work with international and intercultural people. Returning to Munich, she will start her Master’s studies this fall. Apart from social and political interests, she has always been passionate about traveling and languages. By now Lisa speaks German, English, Spanish, French and just started learning Arabic a year ago. By participating at MUNAM, she hopes to foster a deeper
understanding of the conditions for successful international and intercultural cooperation. Therefore she cannot wait to debate and connect with the other participants.
Yilin Jia
Yilin was born and grew up in Tianjin, China. After learning German for six years at School and finishing one year of German Linguistic study in Peking, she decided to study something completely new and different in Germany. So now she is studying Political Science and Law as a minor at LMU. Due to the unique opportunity to learn German at the young age in China and also the exchange program at School, Yilin is passionate about meeting new friends and getting to know different cultures. In 2015 Yilin attended her first MUN conference in Munich, following by several other terrific experiences in Cambridge, Bonn and Budapest. She enjoys the experience of negotiating with other delegates and stepping in the shoes of a diplomat and finally finishing resolutions related to different topics like security, human rights, environment and refugee crisis, which are extremely crucial for our life in the real world.
MUN is a learning by doing process. The professional training sessions before different MUN conferences is an important reason why she would like to join the MUNAM delegation of 2017/18. Seminars will prepare her to participate the Isar, Nice, Maastricht and Vienna MUN conferences, which are well known for their excellence. Teamwork and use knowledge about politics or international law in the practical situation are not easy to gain in traditional lectures at the University. In her spare time, Yilin enjoys travelling and attending exciting events related to music, technology and food with friends.
Dina Krayzler
Dina grew up in Nizhny Novgorod, a beautiful ancient city in Central Russia. At the age of 9 she moved with her parents to Munich. Over time the city became her home and as she fell in love with its history, cultural life and art, she found her calling in parttime work as a tourist guide. Although she was adjusting to life in a foreign country, she tried to keep up with Russian tradition, its literature, past and current political developments.Throughout her secondary education she studied multiple languages such as Latin, English, French and Spanish. Having a proclivity to humanities, she nevertheless saw herself achieving a career
in the scientific sector and therefore chose a discipline essential for any field of natural sciences. Since 2013 she has been studying mathematics as a major and economics as a
minor at the Technical University of Munich. Trying to restore the balance between her studies and her extracurricular interests she is happy to join MUNAM e.V. and to get in touch with likeminded, committed people who share her interests in international relations and politics and her belief in importance of dialogue. With both her parents having experienced the era of stagnation and the time of upheaval back in their homeland on the one hand, and with friends and relatives scattered throughout the globe, from US to Israel on the other
hand, Dina’s interest in politics is almost genetically determined. As is her firm conviction that intact communication and willingness to compromise are essential for peaceful coexistence. Therefore, she is very excited to participate in MUN conferences in Munich, Menton and Maastricht, to meet people with different cultural backgrounds, to gain more perspective on issues that matter and to seize all the opportunities provided by MUNAM e.V.
Ines Kunert
Ines was born in Düsseldorf in 1996 and grew up in Ismaning, a small village in the North of Munich. From grade 10 at high school, she participated in a bilingual teaching program called AbiBac finishing with a French-German double degree. This enabled her to learn about history, geography and social sciences from the German and French point of view and to go on numerous study trips to France. After her graduation in 2014, Ines decided to spend one year working as an Au Pair in Perth and Melbourne, always striving to further get to know the world. Returning from 12 mind-broadening months in Australia, she started her medical studies at the LMU Munich and chose the University Hospitals of Edinburgh and Lausanne to collect some valuable work experience. Besides her studies, Ines is passionate about her gymnastics club where she helps with the children’s classes and works as a trained judge at gymnastics competitions. Ines lives in a self-governing student accommodation where she has recently been elected a representative of her house. This allows her to take part in regular assemblies and discuss current housing issues. Interacting with open-minded, dedicated young fellow students has been truly exciting for Ines and she is looking forward to getting to know a lot more inspiring people during her time as a MUNAM delegate, thereby extending her understanding of international diplomacy and policy-making.
Salman Amin Khan
Salman was born and raised in Augsburg, a city in Bavaria. Growing up in a very diverse city like Augsburg, he encountered many different nationalities and religions at a young age, which probably led to the development of his interest in International relations.
In 2016, he decided to study law at LMU Munich, mainly because he was interested in the structure of German law and very interested in politics. He is mainly interested in International law, which is why MUNAM seemed like a perfect choice for him. His other non-political interestes include sports (especially football and basketball), reading and especially travelling to other countries (He has already been to many parts of Europe, Asia and North America). He also grew up in a multicultural setting, since both of his parents are from Pakistan. Also, his relatives live in a lot of different countries, including Australia, Canada, the US and Great Britain among others. He is in training right now to work for the Refugee Law Clinic, an organisation which advises refugees concerning German law. He also joined Enactus Munich, an organisation which many conducts projects in developing countries (He works in the law department there). A stated before, the main reasons he joined MUNAM was his interest in International relations and politics, which developed because of his diverse upbringing and many international friends.
Franziska Lienkamp
Franziska was born in a little village near Darmstadt in 1994. She moved to Lisbon with her family after only a few months and went to a Portuguese kindergarten until her family moved back to Germany. She visited elementary and secondary school in Braunschweig, where she participated in several exchange programs to Dublin, Prague and Paris. When she turned 15, her family moved to Munich, where she visited the Werner-Heisenberg-Gymnasium. She was part of the drama group, school choir and involved in the student representation and school development team until she graduated in 2012. Afterwards she returned to Lisbon for one year, where she worked in a nursery on a voluntary basis and took Portuguese classes. Since 2014 Franziska is studying English and History at the LMU to become a teacher. In 2015/16 she participated in the Erasmus+ program and went to the University of Leicester in England for two semesters. Having visited many different countries for education as well as private travels has shaped her admiration for different cultures and languages. Her interest in German and international politics has pointed her towards international political organisations, such as the UN. She now wishes to immerse herself into international policy-making and diplomatic cooperation throughout MUNAM’s delegation of 2017/18. She is especially looking forward to discussing and working with people from other fields of study, as well as improving her debating skills. In her free time, Franziska loves to cook, takes classes in standard dance, enjoys all kinds of outside activities, likes to go to the cinema and meets up with friends.
Andreas Peter
Andreas was born in 1993 and raised in Bad Saulgau, a town located in rural and beautiful Oberschwaben – not far away from Lake Constance. He has always been an inquisitive person, especially in the fields of politics, business, nature, and technology and graduated from high school in 2012. Soon after, he pursued his bachelor degree in Business Administration in the Principality of Liechtenstein and the United States – a truly international environment. The focus of his studies were International Management and Entrepreneurship. After an employment at a consulting company, he is now enrolled in the LMU Master of Business Administration program. Andreas has received awards for his knowledge in the social science subjects, as outstanding first year international student and for his Bachelor Thesis which has been published in a scientific journal. In addition to that, he has been a member of several associations supporting international students. Andreas has with fishing, travelling, biking and politics four, how he calls them, “retirement” hobbies. His political interest and the international background were the main reasons for Andreas to join the 2017/2018 MUNAM e.V. Delegation Project.
Christina Pletowski
Christina was born in 1996 in Munich, where she successfully graduated from the humanistic Maximiliansgymnasium in 2014, additionally being honorably mentioned in outstanding athletic performances. Growing up as a child of a German father and a Russian mother in an international and multicultural environment, she developed an interest in global issues, especially in transatlantic political relations early on.
She participated in several exchange programs both at Cavendish School of England and the College of English Language in San Diego. Christina currently majors in North American Studies with focus on international politics at Ludwigs-Maximilians-University. Next to her studies she deepens her skills in communication by working at a Public Relations Agency. She also was an editor for the LMU online magazine “Unikat“. In 2016, she received a scholarship to study Political Science at Northern Kentucky University. Representing NKU as Vice President and Delegate she participated in her first Model United Nations Conference in St. Louis, Missouri, where she gained experiences and skills in diplomatic political decision making on a global level.
Due to her interest in the United Nations’ work, international politics, debating and cooperating, she was motivated to join an MUN society in Munich. Christina was convinced to get both a deeper understanding of the UN and that MUNAM e.V. is an exceptional opportunity to work in a team as well as to interact with people from various nations. It’s also a means to gain more knowledge on political issues. In her free time she enjoys travelling, playing tennis and surfing. She’s currently learning Chinese.
Ana Popova
Ana was born in 1996 in Ruse, Bulgaria. She was raised in the same city, graduating from the German High School in 2015. In order to understand and further develop her interest in how governments work, she subsequently moved to Munich to pursue her studies in law. She is interested in processes in international organizations. Her interest for international legal developments motivated her to attend classes on U.S. Constitutional Law. Seeking to deepen her insight into the process of law making and the interrelations of political interests, Ana is taking part in an extracurricular workshop for legislature. Besides university, she works for the Max-Planck-Institute for Innovation and Competition and volunteers at the organization “Studenten bilden Schüler”, where she helps pupils with migration background. Next to her diploma she received Deutsches Sprachdiplom II and Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English. Ana is fluent in Bulgarian, German and English and is currently learning French. Shortly before moving to Munich she worked as a translator and already during her school time she performed as the soloist for both junior and senior choirs. She likes to spend her leisure time playing the piano, reading books and watching the opera with her friends. As a member of the 2017/2018 delegation Ana is eagerly looking forward to being a part of MUNAM. In working out solutions together with people of different cultural backgrounds, she would like to enhance her interpersonal skills. She hopes that such skills would ultimately help her in many future avenues.
Robin Schmahl
Robin was born in Mainz, Germany, in 1995 and due to his half Hungarian descent he was always accustomed to multiculturality. He started to travel extensively as a high school student including a student exchange in Kraków. However, it was during his graduation in 2013 when he started to visit the Middle East frequently. There he experienced first-hand insights not only in the rich culture but also in ongoing conflicts of that region. Being intrigued by the complexity of the Middle East with all of its cultural, religious, historical and political aspects he decided to start studying Near and Middle Eastern Studies at the LMU Munich in 2013 majoring with a focus on Arabic and Persian and minoring in French and Philosophy. His studies enabled Robin a comparative perspective on different notions of concepts like freedom, justice or human rights and the clashes between the “West” and the Middle East derived from those. After traveling extensively due to his university studies including a 6 month stay in Cairo in 2015/2016 Robin often faced ignorance or prejudices especially towards Islam in Europe. That is why he started to pursue a path leading to a political career at the UN or the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs as he realised the future potential for the “West” to solve conflicts in and with the Middle East drawing from a deepened expertise of the region. Robin hopes that MUNAM can give him new skills in the practice of diplomatic negotiation and a more profound awareness of the processes behind political bodies like the UN. He worked for several academic and non-profit organizations dealing with different aspects of the Middle East and since 2016 he participated extensively in debating culture via the Munich Debating Society. Robins main interest is traveling the world derived from his deep interest for other cultures especially of Middle Eastern regions.
Mareike Schörgendorfer
Growing up in a small yet beautiful village in Baden-Württemberg, from an early age, Mareike started to engage herself in community work. Amongst others, she continues to be a volunteer for a childrens’ summer camp including working with disabled and refugee children. Along with studying English and Italian, she achieved the Latinum. After graduating from high school, Mareike began her law studies in Munich. She also spent a year in Uppsala, Sweden, as a foreign exchange student, where she discovered and nurtured a deep passion for international relations, politics and foreign policy. To deepen her knowledge in these areas, as well as to sharpen her public speaking skills, she became a member of the university’s mooting team – participating in the biggest Moot Court competition in the area of EU law and managing to reach the regional finals.
Furthermore, Mareike acquired practical experience by working and interning in both the public and private sector. Recently, she pursued an internship at the Permanent Mission of Germany to the UN in Geneva, working in the field of humanitarian affairs and migration. Subsequently, MUNAM e.V. appeared the perfect next step in her career path and provides a springboard into a world of ambition and challenges. Mareike believes that MUNAM e.V. will push her out of her comfort zone; expanding her mind in many different dimensions and training her communication skills to be more targeted and effective.
Maximilian Zimmerer
Maximilian was born in Munich and raised in a suburb of western Munich called Eichenau, where he was engaged in several local political projects like the youth council, the environmental council and bavaria’s leading political party. He attended the High School in Olching, which he left 2014 with the permission to enter the University. During school time, he had a strong interest in natural sciences like physics and biology. Thats why he enrolled in the interdisciplinary programm of Geophysics and Earth Sciences; a joint programm carried out by LMU Munich and Technical University of Munich together. During his studies and internship abroad in Sri Lanka, he discovered his interest in global cooperation in climate change and sustainable energy transformation. He also attended summer schools abroad in Paris and Geneva regarding these topics. As part of the MUNAM delegation of 2017/2018, Maximilian wants to strenthen his knowledge of the international politic system, improving his negotiation and rhetorical skills in foreign langugages and focussing on the dialogue between the scientic approach to climate change and the actual policy-making process for sustainability.