Just to provide a little bit of context. MUN or Model United Nations is a simulation in which the work down at real UN conferences is emulated. Students are assigned a delegation to represent, given a committee and certain topics (i.e. the Disarmament and International Security Matters committee that will deal with topics such as the proliferation of nuclear weapons), and expected to come up with solutions to the issue – a ‘resolution’ [IB CAS LO6 and LO7]. Individuals known as chairs preside over the debate, ensuring smooth transitions and progress are made.
I’ve been on my personal MUN journey since middle school (G6 was my very first year of MUN). During this time, I’ve had the chance to be a page (admin staff), a delegate, a chair, as well as the secretary-general of the conference hosted by UWC (the individual running the entire conference), having attended more than 15 conferences. I’ve had my ups and downs, with several amazing experiences throughout (as well as some pretty horrible ones), and I think getting some context in that sense might be important before I outline my goals for the next two years.
The clichéd thing for people to say is that they started off terrified during their MUN journey. Certainly, almost every sec-gen’s speech will contain a sentence or two where they talk about how they didn’t speak at all during their first conference and were terrified of public speaking. But for me, that fear was something that held on a lot longer than I let on – clutching at me for several years before I was able to let it go. In grade 8, my third year of doing MUN, I would still be shaking whenever I walked up to the front of a podium to make a speech – impromptu speeches (making up elegant dictations on the spot) nothing more than a distant dream. The resolutions I would draft were wanting, and I hadn’t made much progress at all.
Experiences members of the MUN community often recount how they fell in love with MUN after their first, or second conference. That wasn’t the case for me. In fact, after my third conference, I was pretty sure I hated MUN. A small part of that was the intense competition. The graduating class of 2021 is pretty intense – I’ll give us that – with so many individuals in our grade that were highly passionate – good- at MUN. Constantly trying to prove ourselves to our trainers, best one another – my first time of workplace politics I suppose.
What changed all of this was when I applied for a position at our school’s MUN exec team. These were the people responsible for planning the annual conference hosted by our school and would lead to the direction of the club. I recall writing an application so long, I ended up apologizing for it: I was desperate to get in. But getting in ended up being a good thing, because it forced me to get some perspective. By having to consider for once, other people’s perspectives and MUN experiences, I realized that MUN was far more communal than I had realized. While previously, due to factors such as the intense competition that existed between members of the club, I’d had the impression that I was this lone gunslinger of sorts – making his MUN journey in solitude – it was supposed to be this shared experience, meeting all sorts of people and forming collective memories (while improving yourself). Most of all, it was supposed to be FUN.
Being a trainer was another significant moment for me at MUN. By grade 9, I’d improved my skills enough to apply for and become a trainer for middle school MUN. Getting a chance to work with our youngest members, grade 6s, I couldn’t help but feel myself staring at a very similar situation, with me taking on the role of the (intimidating) trainer as opposed to the (somewhat terrified) delegate. The chance to start training these students, sharing my skills and experiences with them (while also learning a lot in the process) was hands down my favorite experience with MUN – relationships built matter a lot to me.
Finally moving on to this year now, and what’s ahead. MUN has been and will be one of those activities that take a ton of time – attending exec meetings on Monday, and training delegates on both Wednesday and Thursday. Hosting 2 final conferences, MUN@UWC 2019 and 2020 (hopefully sec-gen at this one) is going to be a tough but rewarding challenge [LO3 and LO4].
I also hope to attend far more conferences this year (at least 4 – MUN@UWC, MUNOFS, IASAS, and THIMUN Hague), and maybe win a couple of awards as well 😉
Finally, the new relationships I hope to form and existing relationships I hope to strengthen will always be a priority of mine. They’re what got me into MUN and what will keep me engaged with it [LO5]. A special priority of mine as a G11 is ensuring that the future of our MUN club here at school, both the MS and HS activities, is in good hands – the younger students becoming just as passionate about this amazing experience and process.
Some photos from past MUN experiences:
