Model United Nations.
If I had to describe my experience with this course, I would have to say it was one of those college courses that left an imprint in your college experience. The course was definitely inspiring and enlightening to me, and I would recommend this course to anyone who wants an impact in their academic life. This may sound like a typical cliché comment regarding the course, but this typical cliché comment is true, and I will explain why.
The beginning…
When I first heard about the course, I was not sure if I would enjoy it. People said that it was work intensive and stressful, and that scared me a little because I was not sure if I would handle it. I was scared that I could flunk the course and it would affect my GPA. In the end, I decided to take the course anyways because a friend of mine told me that if I wanted to see a growth in my academic career and see my strengths and weaknesses, the course was worth taking.
The middle…
When people said it was work intensive and stressful, they were not lying. The constant update regarding world news, endless research regarding a small European country that was practically the same age as I was and not many people know of (Oh Slovenia), and the balance of helping and competing against your classmate within your committee. Moreover, I personally had to step out of my comfort zone in order to make speeches in front of the class and learn a writing format that I had no prior experience writing in. Despite the intensity, I found growth in myself as a student with the constant research and organizations with my notes, along with a change in myself personally as I began to get over my anxiety with making speeches (always with the “um”).
The end…
How the course was formatted, only half of the students in the course were picked to go to the National Model United Nations Conference in New York. I didn’t get picked to represent my committee (IAEA: International Atomic Energy Agency) at the conference. However, I was given the chance to represent another committee for the conference (UNCTAD: United Nations Committee for Trade and Development), but I had to learn all the materials within a week. Luckily, I had the teacher, the head delegates, the Independent Study Group, and former CCNY Model United Nations delegates to help me and my partner (“Thank goodness!”).
The conference was a long roller coaster ride of good and bad. The good: I got to meet a lot of students all across country and around the world, went through a little prank shenanigans, got to party a little bit with some of these students at the end of the day from a long day of debating and persuading on typing up a resolution, and stayed in a hotel that was already paid for. The bad: I was stressed, had lack of sleep, and loss of appetite to a point where I rarely ate. At the end of the conference, we got a chance to see the inside of the United Nations.
Overall…
Despite my internal complaints and thoughts of ripping my hair out, I was a little disappointed and sadden that the course had to come to its semester end. It was definitely a stressful and work intensive, but it was all worth it. I got to see myself grow as a student during the course, put my newly found knowledge and skills to the test at a conference against over 200 colleges and universities (our school won ‘Distinguished Delegation’ at the end of the conference), learned a lot about the United Nations and the process within the UN, and made new friends.
This was my experience with Model United Nations. If you want to know the true experience of Model United Nations, try it out for yourself.
For those who is preparing to take the course, I will see you as your head delegate when Spring 2014 starts.
Global City 