Maira Gupta Grade 11
UWCSEA East Campus
There are countless extra curricular activities that are offered here at UWCSEA East. They serve the smallest niche to some of the most common hobbies. Out of the many activity clubs and service departments that I have had a chance to be engaged with, the one that has been most significant to me, is definitely Model United Nations- MUN.
I was first introduced to this activity over 4 years ago. Having been trained for around 3 months, I walked into the big room as a nervous first timer. I love to try new things, and my friends had encouraged me to try out a conference as well, so I had to give this one a shot. At this first conference, I mostly observed the first. The second day of the conference, I knew more about how this works and so I had built up the confidence to ask Points of Informations (POI’s)- questions on other delegates' speeches. I eventually even got myself to make short speeches up on the podium in front of the other delegates that were all much more experienced than I was. As I progressed in the conference, I also made an amendment to the resolution, a minor one that I thought would easily pass with little debate or discussion- but unfortunately, I was bombarded with questions and delegates giving me that, ‘you are hopeless’ kind of look. So as expected the amendment failed and eventually the conference came to an end.
Through this one conference, despite the ups and downs, I realised that I really enjoyed the experience while learning a lot more new things. Through MUN, one not only develops their public speaking skills but this activity is a chance to learn more about current affairs, different countries, the art of collaboration, coming to consensus with others with varied opinions, spontaneous thinking, being diplomatic in responses and statements etc. MUN is truly a personality builder and the overall experience is fun too!
In my MUN journey, I have gone from being an ammature delegate to serving as a head chair of commitees, and even setting up an entire conference from scratch as secretary general alongside fellow others! In the span of these 4 years I have learnt a lot. I have definitely become more confident, not afraid to express my opinion and always stand my ground. It has also given me the opportunity to be more aware about current affairs and allowed me to become solution-oriented rather than focusing on the problem, which is an important skill for life.
In the future, I will be continuing my MUN journey. I will be leading one of the training groups at the MUN club at school, guiding newer delegates and preparing them for their MUN journey. I am also a part of the MUN executive team that is responsible for the smooth running of this club and the setting up of the annual conference at school. This has always been one of the more fun backend parts of MUN for me as it allows one to see what really goes into the conference, and also allows one to be a part of the conference coming to life!
I was first introduced to this activity over 4 years ago. Having been trained for around 3 months, I walked into the big room as a nervous first timer. I love to try new things, and my friends had encouraged me to try out a conference as well, so I had to give this one a shot. At this first conference, I mostly observed the first. The second day of the conference, I knew more about how this works and so I had built up the confidence to ask Points of Informations (POI’s)- questions on other delegates' speeches. I eventually even got myself to make short speeches up on the podium in front of the other delegates that were all much more experienced than I was. As I progressed in the conference, I also made an amendment to the resolution, a minor one that I thought would easily pass with little debate or discussion- but unfortunately, I was bombarded with questions and delegates giving me that, ‘you are hopeless’ kind of look. So as expected the amendment failed and eventually the conference came to an end.
Through this one conference, despite the ups and downs, I realised that I really enjoyed the experience while learning a lot more new things. Through MUN, one not only develops their public speaking skills but this activity is a chance to learn more about current affairs, different countries, the art of collaboration, coming to consensus with others with varied opinions, spontaneous thinking, being diplomatic in responses and statements etc. MUN is truly a personality builder and the overall experience is fun too!
In my MUN journey, I have gone from being an ammature delegate to serving as a head chair of commitees, and even setting up an entire conference from scratch as secretary general alongside fellow others! In the span of these 4 years I have learnt a lot. I have definitely become more confident, not afraid to express my opinion and always stand my ground. It has also given me the opportunity to be more aware about current affairs and allowed me to become solution-oriented rather than focusing on the problem, which is an important skill for life.
In the future, I will be continuing my MUN journey. I will be leading one of the training groups at the MUN club at school, guiding newer delegates and preparing them for their MUN journey. I am also a part of the MUN executive team that is responsible for the smooth running of this club and the setting up of the annual conference at school. This has always been one of the more fun backend parts of MUN for me as it allows one to see what really goes into the conference, and also allows one to be a part of the conference coming to life!
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