Model United Nations (MUN) – Conference reflection
LO 5 Collaboration : (Working together to achieve an outcome)

Over the weekend I have completed an MUN conference at a neighboring school where I was placed in the Joint crisis committee as the Minister of Economics and energy of Germany. During the conference our main aim was to tackle the Iran nuclear crisis taking “hyper realistic” measures which fit within our countries values. I enjoyed this committee as it was specialised with different procedure from normal committee’s, therefore, providing my group and I with more experience.

I collaborated with my team members who were representing the chancellor of Germany and the Foreign minister of Germany (as our defense minister was missing we has to play double roles). A majority of the time it was quite easy to work with my group member’s as we all had similar ideas and put in equal effort into our research. However, As we were working with other countries and forming alliances, it was difficult at times to come to a conclusion with other countries and delegates who we had similar yet opposing ideas with.

When working with the countries we had challenges figuring out which countries to ally with however we overcame this by referring to our research to see which countries would most likely fit our ideals in a realistic situation. Collaboration with my two team members was key in making decisions as these decisions would impact not only the outcome for out countries but also every other country in the committee.

In the future, If I am given another committee where we need to collaborate with group members I would use the same tactics by referring to each other every time before making decisions.

In general, the conference was a great experience for me to collaborate with people from other schools and debate with people at different levels as I have only taken part in three conferences however another delegate had taken part in 15 conferences previously. Being in a specialised committee also taught me how to make more realistic decisions as we always had to refer to our resources and current expenditures to see the outcome of increasing spending or placing sanctions etc.

Along with this I was able to develop my public speaking skills which is an area I would like to further develop. MUN has allowed me to work on my confidence with speaking in public and my impromptu speaking skills which once terrified me, however I am more comfortable with it now. I am glad I stepped out of my comfort zone and decided to take part in this conference where I was also able to work on my general knowledge about current affairs as we were debating on current issues that the United nations are dealing with.

Although I couldn’t get a photo of me debating from my committee room, here is a photo from the opening ceremony where all the delegate’s gather prior to starting the conference. (This photo was taken from the school’s MUN website)

Here is a photo of me working in the committee room

Here is a photo of me and one of my peers after the conference had finished on the first day (The conference was over weekend including friday after school, the whole of saturday and sunday)