This is our first article related to the MUN world. For everyone who has experience in previous international MUNs, this is the series that will draw a smile in your face, remembering what always happens at these conferences.
The information in our website is not only for beginners, but also for those who have already participated in these conferences, because, at the end of the day, we all have lived similar situations. This is the perfect space to share those stories that motivated us one day to be part of the MUN circuit.
Are you ready for it? This section is going to be legendary.
Kind regards from the UNSA Team
APPLYING FOR A MUN: NO BED OF ROSES
Every MUNer loves telling the story of how they discovered MUNs. In my personal case, it was during a breakup: I had heard about MUNs in Spain before, but never participated in one. At that moment I just wanted to scape and forget about everything. As that was not possible, I decided to think big: I applied for every MUN in the following three months in Europe.
I couldn’t be happier when I received my first acceptance letter. It was a huge honour for me to start to be considered part of one of the most prestigious MUNs in Europe. Once I had seen the full programme for those days, I started to realise that MUNs are the best events in the world. However, as in many cases, the conference was exactly at the same time as my final exams. I definitely was not going to reject so easily, so I asked my University if it was possible to have my finals on another day. Even though my intentions were fair, the lack of MUN culture in my region made it simply impossible. It was really sad to see how my professors could not see the benefits of an international conference such as an MUN.
An MUN is the perfect place to improve your International Relations knowledge, your negotiation skills and your cross-border friendships. However, not everyone understands that we receive much more from an MUN than what we lose by skipping class two or three days.
In my case, it was not possible to overcome that difficulty, but I still did not reject my application. When you start feeling that an MUN is what you need, that it has to be the next challenge for you to face, you cannot forget about it so easily.
Luckily, the solution came a week after, when I received an acceptance letter for what it would later become my first MUN. Since I had done my application so quickly, I had to do a lot of paperwork to try to change my committee and country preferences to meet my expectations. That was a chaos for the organizational team, but this MUN was one of the best experiences I have ever had in my entire life.
Ironically, what started as a breakup was a new start, not directly emotional, but definitely of personal growth.
I have heard similar stories from delegates and chairs all around the world. What about you? Do you remember your first time at an MUN? We look forward to hearing about it in April 2016 in Seville.
Pablo (Undersecretary General SEIMUN 2016)