Knovva Interview with Mercedes H.F., an MG20® Alumni

Mercedes H.F. played Germany’s Minister of the Environment and Sustainable Development during our EdTech company’s high school leadership program and learn more about what the MG20 is like.

Knovva Academy: Tell us, what’s your name, where are you from, how old are you, and what’s a silly fact about you?

Mercedes H. F.: My name is Mercedes, I’m sixteen years old. I was born in Germany, but I lived most of my life in Spain, and now I live in the U.S., and a fun fact about me is that I speak five languages: Spanish, German, English, French, and Chinese, and right now, I’m learning Italian!

KA: Gosh, that’s so cool! Are you self taught, mostly? The German and Spanish, I presume, you learned from your parents.

MHF: Right: my mom’s Spanish and my dad's German, so I learned those languages together with English when I was very little. And French, I learned at school. I learned Chinese Mandarin by myself, also when I was very young. Now I’m learning Italian because in the future, I probably want to study in Europe for university, although it’s not set, but I really want to keep my options as broad as they can be. Italy is a country that I’ve always loved. I’ve never got the chance to visit, but I just love the way it sounds. So that’s why I’m learning.

KA: Do you find that languages are something you’re very good at? Or do you have to work pretty hard at it?

MHF: A lot of people have told me that I have a general talent for languages. I don’t really see it as that, I see it as more just a fascination for me. It’s not a skill… more a passion.

KA: Can you tell me where your interest in climate change began?

MHF: As I mentioned, I was born in Germany, in a city in the south, which is basically surrounded by the Black Forest — my house was literally on the border of the city and the Black Forest. So every day, I would take super long walks in the forest with my parents, and I loved helping the wildlife, like slugs, going from one road to the other and things like that. And so I think my fascination with nature was always there. And along the years, that fascination grew and took different phases.

When I was in middle school, I began really being obsessed with marine biology and marine creatures in general, and the oceans. And so I started focusing a lot on microplastics, and the dangers our oceans are facing with climate change. And I guess, just in general, over the years, my fascination with nature and my exposure to nature kind of developed into realizing that our environment is in critical danger. And that realization made me drive myself to think about ways in which I can help or I can collaborate with other people to help our climate.

KA: So in that respect, then, how does sustainability influence the way you act day to day, in response to believing that climate change is a really big problem?

MHF: I do, like many individuals across the world, a lot of small-scale things. At home, we recycle, we have always recycled, we come again from this European background, especially German background, where it’s engraved in our culture to be more aware of our consumption and how we’re giving back to the environment. We’re very cautious about our water usage, and we tend to cook at home pretty much all the time. So it’s just these individual steps we take as a family and I think a lot of families around the world do that too. And I think that’s crucial. Because those small things, even though they don’t seem like much, they actually make a pretty big impact in the end.

KA: You’re so right. And it’s also just a much more pleasant way to live, isn’t it? Going off that, do you have any specific advice for other young people who might be interested in becoming more mindful of sustainability and climate change?

MHF: I feel like the younger generations, they’re driven, but somehow they feel, or they tend to have the mentality that maybe what they do on an individual level is not enough, and that they can’t really reverse climate change, because we’re already so far into the problem. But my response to that, and my general advice is: even the tiniest changes make a huge difference collectively. I mean, all we’re trying to do is to make sure we have a future, right? So let’s just get there and take any path we can, we’ll take any ideas you have. Start small and grow from there.

KA: What do you do for fun outside of school? And what do you do for extracurriculars besides Model G20® summits?

MHF: I’m a really sporty person. Unfortunately, with a pandemic, I had to stop some sports that I used to do, but I am able to keep up with Taekwondo. I recently got my black belt! I love cooking, too. Related to my interest in climate, I do a podcast at school, which details the current issues and the future issues we will face as a planet due to climate change and what we can do to kind of mitigate the challenges that we’re facing right now. I’m also super musical: I play piano, the violin, and I sing. And I read; just escape into the book if life is getting stressful.

KA: If you could invent anything that would make life easier or more enjoyable for people, what would you invent?

MHF: Well—this is definitely far from becoming a reality—but I’d introduce something that could substitute or completely eradicate currency, and money. Money has always controlled us throughout history and the problems we face, including climate change, if you think about it that way, they’re all sourced with money and power. And one of the reasons why we’re still stuck in those problems is because we’re so afraid to lose money.

KA: I keep hearing these inklings about you that make me aware that you have a lot of opportunities for leadership in your life. So tell me, what is your perspective on good leadership? What does it mean to evolve as a leader?

MHF: I think the biggest part of being a good leader is having the drive to listen; knowing that it’s not always about you and your ideas. As a leader, you have a responsibility to step back and listen to what your teammates want to say, and what they have to say and let their voices be heard. Because, in my opinion, a good leader is only a good leader, because it has a good team to support that leader. As to the second part of the question, what it means to evolve, or how do you evolve as a leader… evolving as a person is all about learning from experience and learning from past mistakes. And that’s also I think, a key characteristic a leader, a good leader, at least, should be able to have, which is to acknowledge your mistakes.

KA: Let’s finish this with a bang: tell me one thing that people might be surprised to learn about you.

MHF: I may appear very open. But in reality, I’m a super shy person. I don’t like to expose a lot of myself. I’m very shy; I take a lot of time to open up, even though it might appear that I’m very open.

About Model G20^®

The Model G20^® is an annual leadership program for high school students hosted by Knovva Academy that welcomes students from all around the globe. Through mirroring the real G20, students take an innovative and simulatory approach to developing their leadership skills. Students play active roles among key G20 participants, and gain firsthand experience on diplomacy and addressing global challenges. As the leader in online learning, Knovva Academy provides the tools necessary for future global ambassadors.