Interview with SGA Vice President Sebastian Muehlbauer

November 30, 2009 | Observer Staff | Comments 0

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By Chris Liu

Sebastian Muehlbauer is from Vienna, Austria and naturally grew up with a passion for classical music. He sang in a choir since he was 12 and was the singer for a rock band for 2 years.  As he grew older, Sebastian also began to explore a wide variety of other interests and initially chose to study German, French, politics, and communications in university. A pivotal moment in Sebastian’s life came when he studied as an exchange student in France through the Erasmus (European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students) Program and fell in love with the city of Paris. He finished his degree at Paris III: Sorbonne University with a degree in Business, French, and Italian. He continued to pursue his master’s degree there and spent one year at NYU studying politics.

Last year Sebastian studied at the SAIS Bologna campus where he was in charge of organizing the annual Bologna Austrian Ball, a tradition that has been ongoing for 30 years. Sebastian and other Austrian students brought over 200 students to Vienna and the event was an astounding success. His experience organizing the Austrian Ball inspired him to take a leadership position at SAIS. Says Sebastian, “I felt I had gained the trust of my fellow students.  I genuinely cared for their opinions and needs. I hope to continue to build my leadership skills and serve the students at SAIS.” Sebastian feels that the relationships he built in Bologna were extremely personal rather than political. He is especially concerned with helping former Bologna students transition to life in D.C., and clear up any misconceptions students from different campuses may have of each other.

Sebastian himself is still trying to figure out D.C. He loves the rush of living in big cities such as Vienna, Paris, and New York. However, D.C. is an odd mix of both; a provincial-looking city that has both a metropolitan and suburban feel. He says, “I know that D.C. is a city with motivated and busy people, but I hope we can take the time out to get to know each other. We are not a big school and the SAIS experience is special but fleeting.”

At SAIS, Sebastian is an IPE and Finance concentrator.  He hopes that he can learn to think more professionally this year at SAIS. Sebastian has interned for 2 months at the United Nations in the Economic and Social Council and enjoyed the experience tremendously.  However, Sebastian will probably not be interning this year at SAIS.  “I generally don’t support students interning while studying because it takes from the experience of school.” This semester he will be taking Multi Corporate Finance, Financial Derivatives and Risk Management, Russian & the New Eurasia, and Global Business Strategy. Also he is learning Russian.

As for the SGA experience, Sebastian is extremely excited to be working with the current team. “Paul was a 1st year representative last year so he is very organized and knows everything that is going on. Anayo is great with numbers, May is so active and helpful and Larina does a great job of caring about issues concerning former Bologna students.”  Sebastian has a special interest in academic affairs and has already held a meeting. He was very happy with the large turnout and believes the student committees will greatly increase academic quality. He says, “I love to complain about what is wrong. I am not afraid to express my opinions and I believe that this will help stimulate improvement.”

The SAIS school year looks to be an exciting one and Sebastian will surely try to participate fully in student life.  As a final message to students, Sebastian hopes that we can all come together and get to know each other more closely, “Our experience here at SAIS is truly special. I hope all of us can step back from their professional focus and be more of a student.”

Chris Liu is a first year M.A. candidate in Korea and Southeast Asia Studies.

Filed Under: September 2009