Ruchirangad Sharma

Hi All! 

My name is Ruchirangad Sharma (but friends call me Ruchir for short), and I am super excited to be one of your vice chairs for the upcoming BMUN conference! I am a freshman here at UC Berkeley, so this is my first year doing BMUN, however, I have done MUN throughout all 4 years of my high-school. Lucky for me, I have only ever participated in THIMUN styled conferences such as this committee, so please feel free to ask me any questions regarding procedure or the flow of debate. 

Currently, I am an intended Economics and Business Administration double major, but we'll see how that goes. As many people here may say, I as well am a MASTER procrastinator, but jobs do get done :D I am Indian by blood, however I have never really lived there. I was born in Kuwait, and then moved to Abu Dhabi for 4 years, before moving to my "home", Malaysia, where I have spent the last 13 years of my life. So its safe to say that adjusting to this lifestyle has been hard, but what is life without a little challenge!

In my down time (hah) I consume Netflix like no one else. Some of my all time favorites include Sherlock, Friends, HIMYM, Designated Survivor, just to name a few. I also love any action, crime/thriller type films (Wayy too many to name). So please feel free to come up to me and totally go crazy about the aforementioned cinematic pleasures. 

For many of you, this may be your first time doing MUN, so my advice would be to dive in with both feet! Don't feel scared to speak your mind, or engage with those who share your views. Talk to people and make new friendships, because that is what MUN is in its essence. Remember that you are all working together to solve real life issues that vex even the United Nations. The Head Chair has very carefully and thoughtfully chosen these issues to push your minds to think beyond the box, and communicating with your peers is one way forward. 

The fellow student officers and I are very keen to meet every single one of you! Happy researching, and if any questions arise, please do ask them on this blog, as this is a platform where we can answer any and all of your questions!

See you in March, 

Ruchir

Soham Kale

Hey guys!

My name is Soham Kale, and I'm really excited to be one of your vice chairs for the UN Human Rights Council this year! I'm a sophomore here at UC Berkeley, and this is my second year chairing for BMUN. I've done MUN all throughout high school, though; and I've gone to conferences all over the US.

I'm a Engineering Physics and Electrical Engineering/Computer Science double major, and I spend most of my time in my lab, in the libraries, or the boba places all around campus (Definitely could spend a bit more time in class though...). I lived in Long Island for the first 5 years of my life, but I honestly consider South Florida my home, where I lived for 13 years and basically grew up in. Still, I think I'm slowly working my way up to being a real Californian.

I love BMUN, but outside of it, I do research, I work in a local software startup, and I try to eat as much food as I possibly can in Berkeley before I graduate (seriously, this place is realllyyy good for food!)

I'm a huge fan of anything Marvel/DC/Star Wars/Nolan/whatever. Over my years at Berkeley, I've perfected my abilities as a professional time waster, and when I'm not working, I'm probably fanboy-ing over new episodes of Arrow. Feel free to come up and talk about your interests; me and the rest of the chairs want to get to know you guys! And don't hesitate to ask any questions you have about our experience in college.

The topics that your head chair has picked have never been as relevant as they are today with our current political landscape, both domestically and on an international level. We also expect our topics to be somewhat controversial to debate on; its rare that an MUN topic actually hits home to such a wide number of delegates to the point of contention, but we hope that it stays fun nevertheless. This is also my first THIMUN committee, and so I've spent a lot of time reviewing the ins-and-outs of the procedure. For all of you who haven't used THIMUN procedure before, we hope you do the same!

Have fun researching for your position papers; I know I speak for my fellow chairs when we say we can't wait to read your solutions for these topics. Don't hesitate to send us emails on topic clarification, conference logistics, gradings, etc. And we'll be updating this blog with useful conference information and topic updates, so stay tuned!

~ Soham 

Suma Thati

Hi delegates!

My name is Suma Thati, and I have the honor of serving as your head chair for UNHRC at BMUN 66. I'm accompanied by three amazing vice chairs: Soham Kale, Lucia Zhang and Ruchir Sharma. We are so incredibly excited to meet all of you in March!

I wanted to use this opportunity to introduce myself, our committee and the purpose of this blog to all of you. I'm currently a sophomore at UC Berkeley intending to major in Media Studies with a possible minor in Journalism. This is my second year in BMUN, but my eighth year doing Model United Nations. I've been involved in MUN since I was 12 years old, and BMUN 66 will be my 17th conference! As you can tell, I pretty much became obsessed with MUN from the moment I made my first speech, and it has quickly become one of the most rewarding experiences in my life. I hope that through BMUN, you will take away as much from it as I did!

I was born in India, but I moved around a lot throughout the course of my life, living in Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore before moving to the US for college.

Outside of BMUN, you can usually find me involved in student theater groups on campus, or in gender issues advocacy! I interned at a women's rights organization in Singapore last summer, where I was involved in a project that looked at the barriers to economic empowerment that single mothers face in Singapore.

Beyond all of this, I'm a huge musical theatre nerd (Hamilton, Hairspray, Chicago, Wicked, anything, really!), Lord of the Rings fan, and a true Potterhead at heart. I can successfully quote every single line of dialogue from all Harry Potter movies as they're being said, and this is one of my proudest achievements! I'm also known to binge-watch TV at the worst possible times (finals week, let's say). A few of my all-time favorites are Orange is the New Black, The Crown, Sherlock and Sense8. I'm fiercely loyal to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and I like to listen to movie soundtracks when I study (I highly recommend anything by Hans Zimmer).

Now, just a little bit about our committee. As you already know, our two topics this year are Religious Freedom and Exploitation, Forced Labor and Trafficking. These topics are pressing human rights issues that are quite prominent in the global sphere today. Our committee will also be functioning under THIMUN procedure, which is a procedural style used widely in the international MUN community.

I know most of you would never have encountered THIMUN before, and this is where this blog comes in handy! We'll be using this blog to post periodical updates about the topics to keep you informed. We also encourage you to use the blog to ask us any questions you may have about THIMUN, or about the topics. We'll be more than happy to help!

That's all from me, for now! Be sure to check back occasionally, and please don't hesitate to contact us with any questions you may have. You can reach me via this blog, or you can shoot me an email at sthati@bmun.org.

Have fun, good luck, and see you all in March!

Hi, I'm Lucia!

Hi everyone! My name is Lucia and I'm SO excited to be one of your vice chairs for UNHRC this year!

I'm absolutely thrilled to see you all at conference and can't wait to see what type of debate will come out of the weekend. The topics our head chair, Suma, has chosen are incredibly relevant in today's dialogue. I'm eager to hear your thoughts on the issues and look forward to engaging with your ideas. 

Before we get into conference, I wanted to quickly introduce myself. I'm currently a junior at Cal and I study Business Administration and Economics. This is my third BMUN as a vice chair but my first time using THIMUN procedure (don't tell Suma!). 

I'm originally from Chicago but the Bay Area definitely feels like home now as I've spent the majority of my undergraduate time in the area. Last summer, I interned at a large tech company in the Silicon Valley and got an inside look at the strategy and operations side of the house. Fun fact about last summer: I thought it would be a good idea to stay in Berkeley and make the two-hour commute each way and save a TON of money. Not so fun fact: That was a mistake. Let's just say I've never been and never will be a morning person...

Outside of BMUN, I'm super involved in a consulting club on campus and I used to sell cookies part-time at a shop on Telegraph Ave. Specifically, my club focuses on data-driven strategy solutions for tech companies and I've personally worked on projects related to financial services, telecommunications and fintech. 

I'm a huge Scandal fan and love The Bachelor (...guilty...). If you're a fan of Broadway musicals, Buzzfeed's Tasty and Worth It series, or want to know what I think makes the perfect chocolate chip cookie, please introduce yourself at conference! I'd love to meet you and learn more about what interests you. However, please feel free to ask about my experiences at Cal or really anything.

Until then, happy researching and position paper writing. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to email me or any of your UNHRC chairs regarding the topic, grading or general conference logistics. Make sure to check this blog regularly between now and BMUN since this is where we'll be posting  key announcements and important information about the topic. See you all soon!