MUN MUN Conference By Iven
Last weekend, we attended Kingswood School for the Bath International Schools ’ Model United Nations Conference. This was my first MUN conference and I didn ’ t know what it would be like. I was informed that it was going to be very different from our practices in our co - curricular session so there was a sense of ambiguity on what the event would offer. When we arrived at Kingswood, we were taken to the vast theatre where it was bustling full of people from many different schools. The atmosphere of the event felt very professional. It actually felt as though we were at the real United Nations and it was obvious Kingswood took their MUN conferences very seriously. After the opening ceremony, we went to our own committees and mine was the Historical 1992 Committee. We had to debate issues such as Apartheid and the Bosnian conflict from the viewpoint of different countries in 1992. We had spent some time in our co - curricular sessions researching the topics and I was part of the delegation from Nigeria although Queen ’ s also represented Jordan, Belgium and the UK. Other committees included the Political Committee, Environmental Committee, Security Council and Science and Technology Committee. At first, it felt intimidating as everyone around you seemed to know what to do; there is a very specific debating procedure however once you listen to the other people, you get the idea yourself quite quickly.
For the first day, I didn ’ t really say anything and I regret it because as soon as I made a point of information myself, I was even more engaged and really enjoyed being part of some wide - ranging and interesting debates on world issues. It was a steep learning curve but in the words of another Queen ’ s student who was attending her second conference said “ I am unable to do the true experience justice. Because, as any veteran will tell you, only half of it is in the actual debating, arguing and amendment voting. ” The rest of MUN is having an opportunity to think about, discuss and try to solve wider world issues that do affect us all. In so doing, we have an opportunity to speak publicly, as well as make new friends from schools domestically and around the world. Special mention should be made to Isla who, at her first MUN conference, was commended for her contributions in the Environment Committee. Well done Isla and we hope to see even more students at MUN/debating co - curricular next term as we prepare for next year ’ s timetable of conferences.
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