Sarah Mahdi
Born in Perth, Australia, to an Ethiopian father and a German mother and having spent her early childhood years there, cultural diversity as well as its challenges shaped Sarah ́s life from the very beginning. Growing up speaking German and English, she soon developed a strong interest in learning and working in an international environment and exchanging thoughts and ideas with people from all over the world. That keen interest has guided her ever since.
Being a diligent and motivated student, Sarah participated in various projects and activities at school, including being part of a simulated conference of the General Council of the United Nations, which sparked her interest in the work of the UN and how this work is embedded in international law and politics. In her spare time, she enjoys expressing herself creatively: whether it is through writing, drawing or producing music with her friend.
While completing a month-long internship with an attorney, Sarah’s enthusiasm with the subject of law grew even more. So, after having graduated from school in 2020, she pursued her aim of studying law in Munich, which led to her learning about MUNAM for the first time.
Sarah strongly believes, that major challenges of the 21st century, such as peace, migration, climate change or global health crises like the current COVID-19 pandemic, cannot be overcome by one country alone, as they extend beyond the national realm and affect people all over the world, no matter what culture, language or faith. These global challenges demand a problem-solving approach on a global scale, which, nowadays, is guided by international organisations such as the UN. Hence, Sarah is thrilled to be part of this year’s delegation project, because this means taking a step closer to further develop a politically oriented dialogue amongst various nations as well as their cultures, ethnicities and religions.
Mina Mazari
Born in Mainz, Germany to Iranian parents, Mina grew up between two cultures and was raised in a political household. Therefore, it was only natural that she developed a profound interest in politics from an early age on. As she spent an exchange year in the United States, she came into contact with extremely different political views, as the ones she was used to back home, which helped to deepen her interest in politics.
This experience shaped and strengthened her belief that a better world can only be achieved if people from all over the world and with different political orientations, listen and speak to each other. That is why she applied to be a delegate for MUNAM to come in contact with different people and beliefs and to debate with them in heated conversation on how to make the world a better place – for everyone.
She participated in another cultural exchange with the YMCA New Delhi, where she had the chance to visit India with her Indian friends, who came to Germany a year before.
In October 2017 she moved to Munich to start her studies in medicine. A subject, which she is devoted to because of the immediate impact she can have on people’s lives and the possibility to work all over the world.
Mina enjoys running, reading, hiking, travelling and learning new languages. Except from her native German and Farsi, she can speak English, French and is now learning Spanish.
Anna-Maria Murr
While attending grammar school in Bavaria, she participated in multiple exchange programs, going to France, Finland, Italy, and Taiwan, which sparked her interest in learning about different cultures and underlined the importance of international interchange. Her A-Levels were followed by a stay in Canada where she got to know people from all around the world. Before starting her law degree, she studied Sinology and Economics for two semesters at LMU Munich to broaden her horizons before fully committing to one subject.
Her interest in languages (she speaks German, English, French, and Chinese), meeting and interacting with people from different backgrounds and cultures, politics, and world history have shaped her and are also what made her interested in joining MUNAM. In her free time, she likes to improve her Chinese skills, travel, and read as much as time permits her. She values intercultural understanding and a change of perspective to solve conflicts on a smaller and bigger scale.
Anna-Maria is looking forward to an exciting year as a delegate as she aims to improve her knowledge of international relations and diplomacy as well as her rhetorical abilities.
Silia Peneva
Born and raised in the beautiful capital of Bulgaria, Silia has always been keen on seeking challenges in life. While still in her early years of high school, she set her heart on studying abroad. After graduating from the German school in Sofia, she moved to Munich to study business economics at the LMU. Her interest in finance and accounting began well before her school days, as one of her secret childhood dreams was to become a banker. Next to shaping her professional career, Silia enjoys various sports, especially dancing and skiing. Prior to her univeristy studies, she was a professional ballroom dancer and sees dancing as an astonishing combination of sport and art. In addition, her passion for traveling and exploring new cultures has broadened her worldview and was the starting point for her love of foreign languages.
Silia considers her participation in the 2021 MUNAM Delegation Project as one of the greatest challenges she has currently undertaken, and is eager to gain further knowledge about international politics and diplomacy, and to be part of challenging discussions and exchanges of opinions and culture with like-minded people.
Justin Pohl
Justin was born in a suburb of Munich and spent his entire primary and secondary education there. Nevertheless, having both a family spread across the globe and being born to a pilot on his mother ́s side enabled him to travel to various regions of the world and thus experience different cultures. After the pandemic prevented him from executing any plans made for after graduation, he rather spontaneously decided to enroll for Law at LMU. Since this subject might not suite him, his primary goal at university for 2020/21 is to broaden his horizon and above all establish new connections.
This is where MUNAM comes into play. Offering both the opportunity to deepen his understanding of international politics and to meet new and interesting people, it did not take him long to sign up. Whilst this is his first encounter with the MUN, he hopes to become a valuable asset to the delegation, engage in discussions and expand his field of view in the process.
In his free time, he likes to play tennis, read books of different subjects, where he is particularly interested in history, and listen to music. However, the occasional TV Show and video game is also part of his weekly routine.
Okhan Sari
As the son of Turkish immigrants, Okhan was born and raised in Munich, Germany. Currently, he is studying economics at Ludwig Maximilian University. Since his early teenage years, he was exposed to very dynamic political developments, especially ones that concerned his country of origin, Turkey. This sparked his interest to politics on a global level. Nowadays, Okhan follows politics in his free-time and is invested in geopolitics and crisis areas in the world. He thinks that there is so much room for youths to take initiative and unleash the potential of the UN. That’s the reason why he is interested in the Model United Nations conferences.
Okhan speaks German, Turkish, English and French and besides that he enjoys to play football and basketball.
Atay Sarp
Atay was born and raised in Istanbul, and as weird as it sounds, believes that playing video games as a child helped him develop an international outlook. Most of the internet wasn’t translated into Turkish in the early 2000s, so Atay took it upon himself to learn English at an early age. Learning languages soon became his greatest hobby — he received a scholarship to learn Chinese while also attending a German-language high school, and in 2018 he was chosen to be in the first cohort of Turkish high school exchange students to go to Japan with a government scholarship. There, he made friends from Mexico to Thailand and had a great time getting to know their unique perspectives. He now studies Computer Science with a minor in Computational Linguistics at the LMU, where he hopes to combine his passion for language with a computational approach.
Aside from studying languages, Atay is trying to improve his drawing skills and enjoys reading books about history and science, as well as fictional stories. He also took part in a few MUN conferences in high school, and while he doesn’t consider himself to be very experienced, he enjoyed all of them. Atay sees MUNAM as an opportunity to improve his public speaking skills, to learn more about the world, and to make new friends!
Miriam Schuhmann
Miriam grew up in a small Bavarian town and now lives in Munich to study law. After graduating from high-school she decided to work in an association for disabled and hearing-impaired children for a year. This led her to study pedagogy at the LMU. As she wanted to further expand, she decided to pursue a law degree as well.
Several stays and volunteer projects abroad, like in Ethiopia and Sumatra, sparked her passion for the UN and made her belief in multilateralism. During these projects she collaborated with students from different cultures, origins and religions. She enjoyed the diversity and the common goal to aim for a positive impact on the world. She is convinced that international collaboration is extremely important and fruitful. Rapidly, her decision to study a year abroad fell on Geneva. There, she took courses in the field of international law, was able to attend various talks on current topics and participated in her first MUN conference. To her, discussions with students from around the globe are an inspirational source for personal development.
Miriam is thrilled to be part of this year’s Delegation Project and sees this as a chance to learn more about politics and diplomacy. She is looking forward to having intellectual exchanges on contemporary challenges, thinking outside the box and meeting new people from different backgrounds.
In her leisure time she likes to meet friends, be creative and go hiking or skiing in the mountains.
Lasse Steinmayer
Born and raised in Biberach a. d. Riß, Lasse decided to move to Munich to pursue his Bachelors- degree. As a major he studies political science and as his minor he studies business administration and economic.
Since his high school times Lasse is heavily interested in political and economic topics, especially in the fields of geopolitics, geoeconomics, international security and global diplomacy.
After he finished her A-Levels, Lasse decided to travel abroad for half a year. A year full of interaction with different cultures and people from various backgrounds inspired Lasse to pursue a career in international relations.
In addition to his studies Lasse is a member of a youth organization of a German party and furthermore he is an admitted member of the youth organisation of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP).
Lasse is very thrilled to be part of the Model United Nations Association Munich e.V. and this year’s Delegation Project. He ́s looking forward to having corresponding conferences that will provide him with challenging discussions. Furthermore he ́s looking forward to sharpen his rhetorical and communication skillset and gaining more knowledge on topics regrading the fields of international relations.
Hannah-Sophie Weber
Being born in a tiny Bavarian village, Hannah-Sophie was keen to explore foreign countries and cultures from a very young age. After graduating from an (also tiny) catholic school, she decided to take a gap year and pursue another passion of hers: Modeling. Going from Milan to Hong Kong, Paris, London and Singapore, she finally moved to Munich and started her studies at LMU in 2017.
Starting off with Cultural Science as her major, she continued to focus on political aspects, leading her to eventually take on a double B.A., adding Political Science and Geography to the mix. Participating in IsarMUN 2018 marked her very first MUN experience and immediately sparked her interest in the concept. After taking part in the NMUN Munich delegation project 2020/2021, she wanted to take any chance to once more indulge in the experience. Hannah-Sophie is delighted to thus further advance her MUN-career by becoming a member of the MUNAM project in 2021.
At MUN conferences she both loves the academic challenge of researching and discussing current topics of global relevance, as well as the possibility to represent and get to know a variety of foreign countries. The best thing on top of this however, is the opportunity to engage and create with people from different cultures at international conferences. She his passionate about building a diverse network and becoming friends with fellow students with a variety of specialities in their studies.
Next to her interest in International Relations and MUNs, Hannah-Sophie currently does an internship in political consulting and works as a student assistant for a political research institute. In her free time she loves sports and exploring the outdoors. On summer weekends you’ll either find her on a mountain, swimming in a lake or on her bike and in winter she loves snowboarding. It is a pleasure for her to be a part of this year’s MUNAM delegation project and Hannah-Sophie hopes to contribute to the MUNAM delegation with her prior experience, her curiosity and passion for MUN.