MUN-strous Experience
by Fabiha Khalid
Is it a class? Is it a club? Is it a team? No, it’s Model UN! Model UN is more than a class that you can take in your freshman or sophomore year. It’s more than some club or team that just goes away on those random “field trips” as many other students think. Here at NHP Memorial, Model UN is more like a second family. The similarities we share, the amount of fun we have, the struggles we face, whatever it is, we face it together.
Before I give you insight on what these “field trips” are all about, it is important all the students who aren’t a part of Model UN out there get a good idea of the workload and responsibilities that come with being a prestigious Model UN delegate. Before anything it is important, we get into what Mr. Laugen likes to call the MUN-zone. Basically what this means is to start getting prepared for our “field trip”. How do we get prepared? Research, research, and more RESEARCH! The more research the merrier, and the more prepared a delegate is. The research for us delegates is a weapon that we use to defeat the other schools, literally. You have to keep in mind, we are elegant and formal delegates. During competition, we use our research as debate points, finding inconsistencies and proposing soluations for our issue. The research we have helps us to remain strong through the four days of intensifying debate. Another part of our preparation is the year-long zero period class we take. Yes this class can seem dreadful, and yes it is difficult to wake up early every morning, but at the end it is all worth it. This class is the backbone of our preparation. Every skill us delegates have achieved are from this class.
Before we know it, its conference time. This is the moment we were all waiting for. Now come the butterflies in our stomachs, the tension build up and the “what ifs”. Our dream of going on our first conference becomes a reality right in front of our eyes, as our baggage is being piled up in the library and the bus pulls up in front of the school. Mr. Galvin gives us one of his amazing speeches and reminds us true meaning of Model UN is about to come life. The principal addresses us and tells us that we should be proud of ourselves for not only representing a country, but representing our school. He tells us to not take it as two days away from school and four days away from home, but a life time experience that is waiting for our arrival. After his final words, we’re off to New Brunswick, New Jersey, home to our very first conference, RUMUN 2012. The excitement slowly built up, and was at a high at the opening ceremonies at the Hyatt Residency. Once our secretary general opened debate the thousands of students were off to their conference rooms readily debating through the night. This continued on for three days. At the end of every long and tiring day, we all had our ups and downs, exciting stories to tell, complaints to complain about and so much more. We learned to improve our public speaking skills, built up our confidence and had a great time. Having our own hotel rooms, being responsible for our own actions, everything just built up to be a college experience in our high school years. One thing we will never forget is dominating the karaoke room at the Saturday night social events, which definitely was a night to remember. At the end of the closing ceremonies, all of us, award or no award, can definitely say that RUMUN 2012 was a learning experience. Sophomore Jenny Thomas states that, “Before the MUN trip I felt a bit scared, but mainly excited to go and compete against other schools. After I was really happy I went because it was such a great experience, from practically debating all day long to the cheesy MUN karaoke night.”
Is it a class? Is it a club? Is it a team? No, it’s Model UN! Model UN is more than a class that you can take in your freshman or sophomore year. It’s more than some club or team that just goes away on those random “field trips” as many other students think. Here at NHP Memorial, Model UN is more like a second family. The similarities we share, the amount of fun we have, the struggles we face, whatever it is, we face it together.
Before I give you insight on what these “field trips” are all about, it is important all the students who aren’t a part of Model UN out there get a good idea of the workload and responsibilities that come with being a prestigious Model UN delegate. Before anything it is important, we get into what Mr. Laugen likes to call the MUN-zone. Basically what this means is to start getting prepared for our “field trip”. How do we get prepared? Research, research, and more RESEARCH! The more research the merrier, and the more prepared a delegate is. The research for us delegates is a weapon that we use to defeat the other schools, literally. You have to keep in mind, we are elegant and formal delegates. During competition, we use our research as debate points, finding inconsistencies and proposing soluations for our issue. The research we have helps us to remain strong through the four days of intensifying debate. Another part of our preparation is the year-long zero period class we take. Yes this class can seem dreadful, and yes it is difficult to wake up early every morning, but at the end it is all worth it. This class is the backbone of our preparation. Every skill us delegates have achieved are from this class.
Before we know it, its conference time. This is the moment we were all waiting for. Now come the butterflies in our stomachs, the tension build up and the “what ifs”. Our dream of going on our first conference becomes a reality right in front of our eyes, as our baggage is being piled up in the library and the bus pulls up in front of the school. Mr. Galvin gives us one of his amazing speeches and reminds us true meaning of Model UN is about to come life. The principal addresses us and tells us that we should be proud of ourselves for not only representing a country, but representing our school. He tells us to not take it as two days away from school and four days away from home, but a life time experience that is waiting for our arrival. After his final words, we’re off to New Brunswick, New Jersey, home to our very first conference, RUMUN 2012. The excitement slowly built up, and was at a high at the opening ceremonies at the Hyatt Residency. Once our secretary general opened debate the thousands of students were off to their conference rooms readily debating through the night. This continued on for three days. At the end of every long and tiring day, we all had our ups and downs, exciting stories to tell, complaints to complain about and so much more. We learned to improve our public speaking skills, built up our confidence and had a great time. Having our own hotel rooms, being responsible for our own actions, everything just built up to be a college experience in our high school years. One thing we will never forget is dominating the karaoke room at the Saturday night social events, which definitely was a night to remember. At the end of the closing ceremonies, all of us, award or no award, can definitely say that RUMUN 2012 was a learning experience. Sophomore Jenny Thomas states that, “Before the MUN trip I felt a bit scared, but mainly excited to go and compete against other schools. After I was really happy I went because it was such a great experience, from practically debating all day long to the cheesy MUN karaoke night.”
