Last weekend, I was in Montréal for McMUN, the Model UN conference hosted annually by McGill. I joined the Model UN team last year but wanted to get some more experience before going to a “real” event. This was my first time at a conference outside of Glendon and while I was still feeling apprehensive about whether I was ready, I decided to just go for it. I’m so glad that I didn’t back out like I thought of doing so many times — guess this exploration in 2015 thing might be working for me.
Was I excited or terrified?!? BOTH.
Along with another member of the GMUN team, Yasmin, I represented Côte d’Ivoire on the Fourth Committee SPECPOL where we discussed issues such as intervention and national sovereignty, maritime disputes, and slums and urbanization. Since I was in a general assembly, there was a huge number of countries represented (over 150!) and having a partner definitely helped make my first conference outside of Glendon a little less stressful.
So official. So fancy.
The conference began on Thursday but my committee sessions didn’t start until bright and early on Friday morning. There were sessions all day on Friday and Saturday, as well as a final morning one on Sunday before the closing ceremonies. I was worried before the conference that we would run out of things to talk about after 3 days of sessions in the same committee but our assembly only got through 1 of the 3 proposed topics in the time we were given. The sheer size of the committee may have had something to do with it (the Chairs were literally using binoculars to read some of the placards in the back, not quite what I was used to from Glendon practices!).
Some highlights of the trip:
- The brilliant, inspirational keynote address from Payam Akhavan, a former UN prosecutor and top international human rights lawyer. It was captivating, thought-provoking and included some Lord of the Rings references… need I say more?
- THE FOOD. I basically spent the entire weekend in between committee sessions wondering when my next meal was. Thanks, MTL.
- Getting to know the Glendon MUN team better! Since the club is so large, meetings are offered twice a week and so I hadn’t really met a number of people on the trip. McMUN turned out to be a great bonding experience.
- I learned so much! Having the opportunity to observe the debate and negotiation styles of students from all over Canada and the US helped me sharpen my own skills and I feel a lot more confident in what I’m doing
Some of the Glendon team at McParté, the Saturday night social event!
Make sure to check out Beckie’s McMUN post if you haven’t already!
Have any questions about Model UN or McMUN? Leave me a comment or tweet me @soniapGL!
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