UN New York 03.07.2010 - 10.07.2010
Organizers
This trip will be led by Dominique Ursprung and Adrea Willi. The former brings along the experiences from last years trip and the latter, Andrea, deepened her knowledge about Japan.
Jonas Schmid
Jonas grew up happily in a quite rural area south of Bern, Switzerland, in a small town that counts more livestock than inhabitants. After graduating from Swiss high school, he chose to go on an exchange year to Michigan (USA) where he collected many precious memories. This was the time he started to be heavily interested in international relations and beginning in the summer of 2008, he pursued that interest by studying international relations at the University of Geneva. As of today, Jonas is in his second year of the Bachelors program.
Being part of GIMUN has been an experience that broadened his horizon quite a bit. Since his first GIMUN-conference in 2008 he has not only been learning a lot about multilateral diplomacy, but he has also had the chance to meet lots of people from all around the world.
Last year, Jonas was a crisis manager for the annual conference and this year he's a Deputy Secretary General (along with Alexandre Steullet), whose job it is to work together with the Secretaries General in organizing the conference's content and coordinate logistical support. After the conference was over (and a full-scale success), he was asked by the president of GIMUN to co-organize a study-trip to New York, which he gladly accepted.
Nina Astfalck
On July 8th 1984 I was born in the city of Zurich and grew up in a little village on the lakeside called Stäfa. From a very young age I have been interested in travelling and getting to know foreign cultures. During High School I participated in the Scout World Jamboree (1999) in Chile, made a one year exchange with AFS in Albuquerque, USA (2002-2003) and went to Serbia with the Red Cross (2004). After having graduated from High School in 2004 I went back to Chile stayed there for one year. During this time I worked in a music school for children from poor financial background and I participated in an study program of Latin American History of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso. I also travelled on an individual base around Chile, Argentina, Peru and Bolivia, which was a magnificent experience.
In 2005 I began may studies of History, Political Science and Hispanic Literature at the University of Zurich with special interest in Latin American History and Politics. In 2007 I returned to Chile for one other year of studies at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso.
Currently I am concluding my studies in Zurich. I am very active in the Amnesty International group of the University of Zurich and a member of the board of Ifil.ch. Working for these two organizations is a great experience for me, because it gives me the opportunity to interact with many interesting people.