It was the first Model United Nations simulation I participated in. I went mainly on the recommendation of the teachers who were (not very well) preparing us for the trip to the USA to participate in NAIMUN. As a first experience, it was honestly quite disappointing; I couldn’t have felt more out of place and lost. I wasn’t aware of it, but the feeling of “what the hell am I even doing here?” was there.
What exactly did I learn from this experience? Specifically about MUNs, it’s that it’s always easier to do things if you have a plan in advance and an opening speech ready and memorized (because it’s more challenging but still within uncomfortable limits, avoiding improvisation).
I would say it was a 4/10 experience. It was definitely more fun once I finished. I remember making redacted laugh by pulling the badge off my neck, which broke the plastic cord. I also remember redacted’s cleverness in noticing two girls taking pictures alone and seizing the opportunity to talk to them.
On a larger scale, I think what I really took from this experience was what I learned from all the opportunities I participated in, and somehow it was more frustrating than rewarding: don’t get involved in activities where you don’t have a well-defined objective for them (even if it’s just “to try it out,” because at least then you’ll have a reason to do the things being proposed instead of just sitting around for 10 hours).
If I were to do it again, I would do the following: study the case more seriously, outline a possible partnership strategy with other delegates aligned with my agenda (but not depend on them to push my agenda), and set some more general goals to work on communication and debate soft skills mainly. Basically, I would create any justification to engage as much as possible with the event, no matter how crappy it was—if I’m already in the mess, I might as well get the most out of it.