Annalina Mak's day seems to have 48 hours. In addition to her double major at the LMU, the 21-year-old coaches the Vaterstetten elite team in taekwondo, helps exchange students as part of the LMU Buddy Program and inspires young people to study at the LMU trial lectures. In order to relieve her financial burden for her volunteer work the LMU supports her with a Germany scholarship.
Annalina Mak started her favorite sport, taekwondo, at an early age. "I don't remember exactly when," she says and laughs. She has always had great fun with it. Vaterstetten was just the right town for it. The place has long been known for successful competitions and tournaments. One day, Annalina was spotted by a talent scout. "That's how I got into competitive sports," says the Munich native. A little later, she was in the national Taekwondo squad where she represented Bavaria at many championships.
The 21-year-old has already been German champion several times. "There are an incredible number of different disciplines in Taekwondo," she explains. To get into the squad you have to collect points and take part in various international tournaments. Annalina and the team regularly received awards for their achievements from the mayors of their region. It could have gone on like this forever, but after graduating from high school the question arose: continue sports or enroll at an university?
Annalina also volunteers for the LMU Buddy Program, a mentoring program for exchange students to help them settle in Munich. "If people actively decide to come to LMU, I certainly want to show them what the university and the city have to offer," she explains her decision. So the 21-year-old helps them organize their studies and prepare for exams, shows them around the city and goes to the beer garden or skiing with them. Since she herself spent a semester studying in Great Britain, she can better understand the needs of her foreign buddies.
As if that wasn't enough, Annalina also supports prospective students at the LMU trial sessions. That is, high school graduates or young people on a gap year. They often have a lot of questions about how studying at university works. "I still remember how lost I was at the beginning of my studies with all the options," she remembers. Parents, friends and acquaintances can often only help to a limited extent. Regardless of whether it's about choosing a course, the structure of the course, student life or how much you have to learn: during the discussions, the LMU student tries to pass on her experiences to interested students.
"The Deutschlandstipendium is therefore more than just a financial injection for me," she emphasizes. Without the financial support, she would have to significantly limit her voluntary activities. The question remains how the 21-year-old manages to do all of this alongside her studies, regular internships, her sponsor's scholarship days and her private life. Annalina laughs: "Once you've started, it's not as much as it sounds."
LMU Diversity Management
Diversity Management Coordinator, Germany Scholarship Program Coordinator