Eliza Hoang is a member of the All-American Model-UN team, and a Best Delegate Alumnae. After participating in the Ambassador and Crisis programs this year at the Model United Nations Institute summer camp at Harvard University, Eliza went on to win Best Delegate at the WeMUN Expo 2015 in Beijing.
Satya: So, what made you want to come to the MUN Institute this summer?
Eliza: I’ve been doing Model UN for about 2-3 years now, and I realized that my [school’s] Model UN club doesn’t meet [very often]. I know other schools have clubs that meet every single week and other ones every single day, but my club, what we do to go to conferences is that we have to write out an application to go to each conference, and then we have about 4-5 meetings where we introduce new members to Model UN, and work out logistics and work on research and position papers.
But I realized that we never really had practice simulations, or even practiced basic skills such as debate or resolution writing. I remember going to my first conference at Yale, I didn’t know what to do, I knew what Model UN was, but I didn’t know what exactly to do; like the points and motions, what exactly to say and when to say those things in Model UN, and then in my fourth conference, I believe, I met Ryan Villanueva, and he introduced me to Best Delegate and then, I decided to come to Harvard for the Crisis and Ambassador programs this year.
Do you think attending the MUN Institute’s summer program made you made you a better delegate overall?
Eliza executing her newly-learned skills in Diplomacy while working with MUNI Almunae Maria Gordon
E: Not only did BD teach me the basic skills required to be a good delegate- how to be a best delegate- making speeches, writing, and that sort of thing, but also BD taught me diplomacy, I thought that was very important because usually I have a tendency to be the one who’s very aggressive in committee and sometimes that could cost people awards. Diplomacy is how to really work with people. Social dynamics are very important. You can say that, not only did BD teach me diplomacy, but BD also introduced me to Crisis committees, I’ve never been a crisis delegate before, and I thought it was very interesting to put myself out there and try something new.
What would you describe as your favorite part of your experience at the MUN Institute?
E: I attended both the Ambassador and Crisis programs at Harvard this summer, and during the Ambassador program, I was with Eric Chen (he was my diplomacy fellow) and my favorite part of the camp was probably the breakout sessions, where we’d break out into our diplomacy fellow groups and we’d have all these practice exercises to hone our skills, like speaking. I especially liked the breakout sessions on how to make speeches, using techniques like ‘hook, point, action’, and developing your speaking style, and all of that; I was never really trained on how to do that, and I was glad that I was taught the proper way. And during the crisis program, my favorite part of the camp was probably the-
Insomnia cookies. [Insomnia cookies played a big role in keeping people in the Crisis program awake while we wrote our position papers]
Eliza shows us how one can still look confident feel empowered in the face of adversity – such as a large GA or intimidating crisis.
E: (Laughter) But, beside Insomnia cookies, it was the tight-knight community that the crisis group had. I really liked the simulations as well, particularly the one we did on the Ukrainian crisis. It was my first time having actual portfolio powers, and knowing how to respond quickly, on your feet. It was the first time where I had to put my self out there and take risks, unlike GA committees, which are typically fairly slow; crisis committees are pretty fast-paced. At times it was very intimidating, because sometimes I lost track, and I had no idea what I was supposed to do (laughter) but it was worth trying something new!
Has what you learned at the MUN Institute this helped you outside Model UN in any way?
E: Actually, it has! What I’ve learned at BD has definitely helped me outside Model UN. I gained a lot of confidence, especially in class, during impromptu debates. It’s also changed how I interact with people, and taught me to be diplomatic, especially when working in a group.
What was something you didn’t expect to learn at the MUN Institute this summer?
Eliza perfectly demonstrates the most famous MUNI public speaking style tip of all – the Ryan Villanueva Hand Diamond®
E: I did not expect to learn about public speaking style. It wasn’t something I really thought existed. I mean, before I came to the MUN Institute, I’d just go up and make my speeches and come back down, and I thought I wasn’t really doing anything wrong until the public speaking style exercises, my Diplomacy Fellow Eric Chen pointed out to me that I swayed a bit during my speeches. He then taught me to imagine a home base in front of my face- (laughter) sorry, under my feet- but yeah, it was a very helpful trick I didn’t expect to find out about.
How did you find the networking experience at camp this summer?
E: I was really surprised that there were so many different people coming from so many places. At Harvard, my roommate was from Texas, and another one was from Michigan, and I’m from Connecticut. And I thought it was very interesting to learn about different people’s experiences with Model UN and share my own experiences with them. I thought everyone bonded really well, like these days we still have group-text messages. In fact, the other day, I went to Boston and I met up with some of my Crisis friends there. So I think that even though the camp was only one week long, I made pretty good connections with everyone. When I left after camp, I travelled to China with the All-American Model UN team for WeMUN, and I was pretty surprised to meet four other BD alumni with the team, and it was so much fun to just bond over BD memories, even though we didn’t go the same year or to the same camp, I think we all had an amazing experience.
Would you recommend the MUN Institute to other delegates?
E: Totally! Honestly, I feel like it is at BD that you learn the proper way to Model UN. I learned so much at BD, like I said before, not just skills, but also how I interact with other people. I met so many great friends there, and I would definitely recommend the Model United Nations Institute to anyone who wants to do Model UN!
E: Wait is this interview thing going to be somewhere or…?
Yeah, it’s going on the MUNI Blog. You’re famous.
We’ll second that motion, Eliza! Thank you very much for allowing us to interview you for our first instalment of the Community Spotlight Series, and we at the MUN Institute and Best Delegate wish you all the best this year!
Interview and article by Satya Amin
