Oakridge International School hosted a Model United Nations conference- OakMUN in November 2011.
It was a 2 day conference, where delegates from schools all around India had participated. I was representing my school- Indus International School, Hyderabad. Through this experience, I learned about by strength in public-speaking, and this certainly was an increase in awareness of my strengths. This was my first ever MUN, and the first time I was engaging in debating on world issues, hence it was a new challenge for me.
It was my first ever MUN and I was very excited. I couldn't wait for the conference to start. I was in the Disarmament and International Security committee (DISEC), and these 2 days were extremely challenging. The quality of the delegations was very high and I had to bring myself up to an intellectual level, like never before! I had to put my points through to the committee, where every single thing I say would be questioned by other delegates. I had to be extremely careful, and it was actually a little scary as it being my first every MUN experience. It was a fine experience, speaking and putting my point of view across to 40 other delegates and the Chair.
While making the final resolutions, there were many ideas and opinions that were being thrown, and I learned the importance of working collaboratively with others. The focus of this committee was the curbing of terrorism, and it is indeed an issue of vast importance globally. By participating in discussions, and putting forth my point of views, I engaged in an issue of global importance. In order to do well at a MUN Conference, doing the necessary homework is very important. Its all based on hard facts and statistics and without proof, there is no point in putting forth an opinion. Hence I had to do intensive research and be really dedicated and show perseverance, as researching took quite a lot of time and effort. Through this process, I learned a new life-skill, about how important it is do be good at effective research and research that was to the point.
I hadn't spoken for the first 40 minutes of the conference and I was getting very frustrated. I was scared, I underestimated myself by thinking that I would never be able to come up with good points, competitive points after listening to the other delegates and understanding their points. I was getting very anxious and as mentioned above, extremely frustrated. We then had a motion pass for unmoderated caucus, and a fried of mine, who was a part of the Chair, a very experienced MUNer came and asked me why wasn't I speaking. I told him I was scared and he said to me, "don't worry, its your first experience and its completely alright if your points aren't as strong. Its more important to speak rather than worrying about your points being good or not." That did give me a confidence boost, and I spoke as soon as the unmoderated caucus ended, and surprisingly, I did very well. Most of the delegates agreed with the points I had made, and that feeling was out of this world. My confidence levels were high like never before.
I spoke quite often in the coming 2 days of the conference, and I had also won the award for Honorable Delegate in the conference. I was so proud of myself. Winning an award on my first ever MUN was an incredible feeling, wherein, before coming for OakMUN, so many people had told me, its impossible to do well on your first MUN. I had proved them wrong, and I felt good about it :)
It was a 2 day conference, where delegates from schools all around India had participated. I was representing my school- Indus International School, Hyderabad. Through this experience, I learned about by strength in public-speaking, and this certainly was an increase in awareness of my strengths. This was my first ever MUN, and the first time I was engaging in debating on world issues, hence it was a new challenge for me.
It was my first ever MUN and I was very excited. I couldn't wait for the conference to start. I was in the Disarmament and International Security committee (DISEC), and these 2 days were extremely challenging. The quality of the delegations was very high and I had to bring myself up to an intellectual level, like never before! I had to put my points through to the committee, where every single thing I say would be questioned by other delegates. I had to be extremely careful, and it was actually a little scary as it being my first every MUN experience. It was a fine experience, speaking and putting my point of view across to 40 other delegates and the Chair.
While making the final resolutions, there were many ideas and opinions that were being thrown, and I learned the importance of working collaboratively with others. The focus of this committee was the curbing of terrorism, and it is indeed an issue of vast importance globally. By participating in discussions, and putting forth my point of views, I engaged in an issue of global importance. In order to do well at a MUN Conference, doing the necessary homework is very important. Its all based on hard facts and statistics and without proof, there is no point in putting forth an opinion. Hence I had to do intensive research and be really dedicated and show perseverance, as researching took quite a lot of time and effort. Through this process, I learned a new life-skill, about how important it is do be good at effective research and research that was to the point.
I hadn't spoken for the first 40 minutes of the conference and I was getting very frustrated. I was scared, I underestimated myself by thinking that I would never be able to come up with good points, competitive points after listening to the other delegates and understanding their points. I was getting very anxious and as mentioned above, extremely frustrated. We then had a motion pass for unmoderated caucus, and a fried of mine, who was a part of the Chair, a very experienced MUNer came and asked me why wasn't I speaking. I told him I was scared and he said to me, "don't worry, its your first experience and its completely alright if your points aren't as strong. Its more important to speak rather than worrying about your points being good or not." That did give me a confidence boost, and I spoke as soon as the unmoderated caucus ended, and surprisingly, I did very well. Most of the delegates agreed with the points I had made, and that feeling was out of this world. My confidence levels were high like never before.
I spoke quite often in the coming 2 days of the conference, and I had also won the award for Honorable Delegate in the conference. I was so proud of myself. Winning an award on my first ever MUN was an incredible feeling, wherein, before coming for OakMUN, so many people had told me, its impossible to do well on your first MUN. I had proved them wrong, and I felt good about it :)
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