Want to know what exactly happens at Best Delegate’s Model UN Institute? Read more to experience a Day in the Life of a MUNI camper!

8 am: Start off the day right with breakfast at the campus dining hall and catch up with fellow campers

9 am: First class of the day! Begin the day with a fun speaking activity as a warm-up, such as pitching random objects in the room

9:30 am: Did someone say public speaking? Participate in an impromptu speaking lesson such as Fruits and Vegetables where you and other campers work to pass a salad recipe in the UN cafeteria.

10:30 am: Learn about an interesting topic such as Climate Change for the upcoming simulation and start researching your country’s position

11:45 am: Time for lunch! Grab a bite at the dining hall with your fellow campers while you discuss plans for the rest of the day

1 pm: Learn about helpful delegate techniques, such as SPEAR and Hook-Point-Action and participate in some more practice activities

2 pm: Put the skills you learned into action at the practice simulation! Represent a country and work with other delegates to pass a resolution.

3:30 pm: Debrief with your MUN mentor in a 1-on-1 feedback session where you will work to become a stronger delegate and meet your goals.

5 pm: Classes have ended for the day and commuter students leave. Meanwhile, residential students head back to the dorms to relax, hang out with friends, explore campus, or take a power nap

6 pm: Head to a local restaurant with your fellow campers and MUN mentors. Grab some delicious dinner and dessert and head over to the Georgetown Waterfront Park and enjoy the view of the Potomac River.

8 pm: Head back to the dorms for the night. Spend time with fellow campers, Residential Counselors, and MUN Mentors doing icebreakers, Minute to Win It, MUN trivia, or movie night!

11 pm: Time for curfew! Get some rest and be prepared for another exciting at MUNI!

Ready to have the summer of a lifetime? Check out mun.bestdelegate.com to learn more about our programs and register for the MUN Institute!

A dripping wet Friday afternoon and a cold Saturday morning on December 15^th and 16^th marked the 3^rd installment of STIMUN, the biggest MUN conference in the South Texas circuit. With over 70 students STIMUN is the biggest conference to be hosted in the South Texas circuit. Students from all over the IDEA Public Schools district along with some independent delegations attended the conference eager for the biggest conference of the season. Topics ranging from Cybersecurity to Immigration were on the floor for debate. The 2-day sessions saw direct debate, collaboration, and a steady flow of directives from those in Crisis committee. All while resolutions were signed and voted on in various other General Assembly committees. Lunch breaks saw old fellow delegates meet again and new friendships and alliances formed. The sights, sounds, and atmosphere were one of a properly large conference reminiscent of the East coast circuit.

Despite being the biggest conference in South Texas, STIMUN has not been around for as much time as other big conferences. 4 years ago, this conference did not exist. In fact, 4 years ago the entirety of the South Texas Circuit did not exist. It is thanks to a partnership between a worldwide education company and an independent school district dedicated to the success of its students that MUN flourished in a completely new region.

The impact this partnership has had on students has been monumental.

To truly understand how an entire region was introduced to MUN in the time it takes a high school student to graduate, we must look back at 2014 when a group of students from IDEA Mission College Preparatory went to a Model United Nations Institute session at Georgetown. The students left with the physical resources to create a Model UN program, but even more than that they left with the leadership skills that they needed to create a thriving program. According to former MUNI mentor Laurabeth Goldsmith “Every student developed their public speaking, research, debate, and negotiation skills.  But for me what was particularly incredible to witness was the confidence that students developed through Model UN.” Through this pilot program a partnership between IDEA Public Schools and Best Delegate was formed. Along with funding from the federal GEAR UP grant and extensive work from Sylvan representatives Yanira Aguilar and Ronaldo Najera this partnership was able to flourish and empower an entire school district with MUN. In a matter of months, ground work for future students was laid out, funding and ideas were put in place, teachers and advisors were trained, and the program expanded to other schools rapidly creating the South Texas Circuit as we know it.

Pilot IDEA Mission delegation

Today the partnership between IDEA Public Schools and Best Delegate enables students to have an immersive experience at various MUNI summer programs. These students then return to their campus and start their own MUN clubs and expand the system to new schools.

Thanks to the perseverance of students and work of many associates, an entire region been introduced to MUN. It is partnerships and associations like the one between IDEA Public Schools and Best Delegate that empower high school students to start their own delegations and expand MUN to a different region. Just as a group students brought MUN to theirs.

Model United Nations offers invaluable opportunities for students to explore global issues, meet delegates from all over the world, and develop public speaking, negotiation, and leadership skills. I attended my first MUN conference as a freshman in high school, and I was immediately hooked. The following summer, I participated in the Diplomat Program of the MUN Institute, which was an extremely influential experience. After another school year of numerous conferences, I began to explore the world of Crisis committees. I enrolled in the MUNI Crisis Program, which was filled with many national security debates and exciting crisis simulations. Here are the things that I miss about my MUNI experiences:

1. Lessons and activities

The lessons and activities at MUNI were fun, educational, and memorable. Through impromptu speaking exercises, mini-debates, and conference simulations, I developed skills and confidence as a MUN delegate. During one of my favorite activities, delegates were each given three random words, and they had to deliver an impromptu speech related to the crisis topic, ISIS in Libya. At first, the task was intimidating, but it helped me gain confidence in impromptu public speaking….it was fun, as well! All of the lessons I learned at MUNI allowed me to grow as a delegate, and this aspect of the program made the experience truly influential.

2. The MUN Mentors

At MUNI, campers learn from MUN Mentors, who are accomplished delegates and student leaders from colleges and universities around the world. The MUN Mentors are some of the most inspiring people I’ve ever met, and they offered valuable lessons MUN and public speaking skills. In addition, the MUN Mentors provided advice about college applications and college-level MUN, and it was great to hear about all of their experiences.

Click here to read more about the amazing MUN Mentors from Summer 2018!

3. The People

What I miss the most about MUNI is getting to know all of the amazing people I met throughout the week. At MUNI, I was exposed to a diversity of individuals with a shared eagerness to learn about global issues. As someone from a relatively small town, MUNI was an incredible opportunity to engage with students from other countries and to expand my own perspectives. The friends I met at MUNI inspire me to take continuously seek out new ideas and experiences, and I could not have asked to meet a better group of people. I am still close with many of my MUNI friends, and I look forward to many reunions!

My experiences at MUNI encouraged me to pursue MUN and to expand my understanding of global issues. MUNI’s community of delegates and young leaders from all around the world inspires me to engage with many different individuals and opinions, and to contribute to global dialogue and advocacy. As I begin to make choices about college and my future, I can say definitively that MUN has shaped my academic and career goals. MUNI has allowed me to discover my true passions and to be a part of a global community of young leaders.

Crisis is a kind of committee that is fast-paced and gives unexpected scenarios for delegates to solve. Not only is this incredibly challenging, but it is also incredibly fun to work with. Coupled with unexpected results, funny moments, and waves of excitement crisis is one of the most memorable forms of committee. Here are a couple things only crisis delegates can understand.

1. Updates Are Always Part of a BIG Master plan

To first-time crisis delegates, updates from crisis may seem random and even senseless. Even experienced delegates sometimes wonder what the update “56 goats have infiltrated your complex” has to do with the storyline. But, through their mysterious ways, crisis always finds a way to be able to make every single update be significant to the story, all which lead to the huge realization that each of those goats had wires that sent information back to Russian spies. Touché crisis, touché.

2. Committees Can Get Very Unrealistic

Crisis delegates will understand the following situation: You’re dealing with a full scale invasion from a neighboring country and ask your good pal the United States for help. In response your ally writes a directive to build a big wall to keep invading soldiers out of your country. Original? Yes. Realistic? Not quite. This is without counting the other scenarios where Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson becomes the president of the United States or the Illuminati take control of earth.

3. Crossing Your Fingers When Crisis Comes In To Give Updates

Whenever crisis comes into the room with an update an astounding silence falls among delegates in the room. No one but the crisis staff knows what is about to happen and so everyone hopes for the best. Everyone wonders if their directive helped or if made things worse. Either way, all crisis delegates eventually find themselves crossing their fingers hoping that crisis doesn’t bring devastating news your directive failed.

4. Having No Idea Who Won What

Awards are not everything in Model UN, not even remotely. However, it is always nice to be able to take something home. While GA committees are challenging there is always a way to have a slight prediction about who won what. When it comes to crisis these predictions are as accurate as anything posted on tabloids, crisis works in mysterious ways and has a strange way of rewarding delegates.

5. Getting Bored of General Assembly

There is nothing wrong with attending General Assembly committees as debate and resolutions make for a good time and can be very entertaining. However, crisis delegates come from a committee in which explosions, hacking, and assassinations happen regularly. This means when crisis delegates go back to General Assembly it can seem a tad boring; after all us crisis delegates love the thrill of receiving live updates and coming up with instant solutions to ever changing situations

BONUS: If There Are Hostages There Are Backup Generators

Many crisis simulations feature a hostage crisis in which delegates have to negotiate or break out the defenseless hostages. Many delegates think that cutting the power to force a siege upon the captors is a great idea. Of course, crisis know this would be way too easy and so whenever the directive to cut the power to the building or territory is issued it is followed by the classic line: “You have successfully cut the power. However the captors happen to have generators inside which they are using to power their facilities.” Touché crisis, indeed.

Model United Nations is an incredible way to meet new people and develop your social/public speaking skills, and learn more about international affairs. As a delegate, you never stop learning new ways to improve for conferences and as a positively influential member of the international community. After attending the Model United Nations Institute this past summer, I can say with confidence that my abilities as a delegate and a future member of the political community would not be the same without the expert advice I received and the diverse community that I was exposed to. Here are just three of the multitude of ways that delegates can expect to improve at MUNI:

1. Leadership In Blocs

Every delegate, whether they consider themselves a novice or an expert, can run into issues showcasing leadership in a block, especially with extremely strong and assertive peers. As a relatively new member of the Model United Nations community when I went to MUNI last summer, I definitely faced this issue, as I was surrounded by some of the most impressive delegates I had seen in my MUN career. However, my peers were not just impactful delegates, but they were also amazingly supportive, creating an environment of respect that allowed me to blossom more as a leader and gain confidence. And I was certainly not the only one who improved as a delegate in this way, as almost all of the delegates I interacted with became noticeably stronger leaders throughout the course of the week, showcasing the immense influence MUNI has not only on my development as a delegate, but on the leadership skills of almost all that attend.

MUN Institute at Harvard University July 24th

2.  Vocabulary and Terminology

Anyone who has ever been exposed to MUN, from a parent that has observed for an hour to attending a weekend conference with hundreds of delegates, know that there is a lot of advanced (and sometimes confusing) terminology that goes along with the functioning of debate. When I first joined Model UN, I definitely struggled with some of the terminology, for even some of simplest actions require intricate vocabulary. However, through the extremely detailed lectures that take place throughout the week, delegates at MUNI are able to not only learn the terminology used in a conference, but adapt their own process of debate in order to best implement their newly gained knowledge. Personally, I know that I experienced this improvement on the topic of mergers, for I was not only able to learn the exact workings of merging different resolutions, but I was also able to practice this skill during different simulations throughout the week, allowing me to improve my abilities as a delegate.

MUN Institute at Harvard University July 17

3. Diversity in the Community

As someone who has grown up in a small, rural town in Massachusetts, USA, for her entire life, one of the most shocking realizations for me was to see just how many people from around the world are united through MUN. Through MUNI, delegates are able to converse and befriend people from all around the world, from California to South Korea. While before MUNI, I did understand that MUN was an international organization, I did not realize just the extent of the international community that exists, and, more importantly, the number of different perspectives of people from all around the world. Through my week at MUNI, I was able to not only meet delegates and staff from across the international community, but I was also able to learn and recognize new and foreign ideas separate from my own American bias, an experience that I am not usually able to indulge in, and therefore one that I am extremely grateful for. As a result, my experience shows the amount of appreciation that one can gain from the diversity of the MUN community by attending a MUNI conference.

MUN Institute at Southwestern University June 12th

MUNI not only fosters a respectful and supportive community for delegates, but it also provides a haven for students across the world that, despite being from different places and having different opinions, share the love of politics and bettering the international community. Through MUNI, delegates can not only expect to grow in debate, but also as thriving members of the international community. Therefore, for me, while learning the terminology and workings of conferences is extremely important, it is not nearly as important as developing my understanding of different cultures and political opinions through the diverse community that MUNI provides, this being what I will take with me far into the future.

This article was written by Best Delegate co-founder Ryan Villanueva. It is reproduced here from the Best Delegate website.

Every year, high school seniors across the US and around the world craft their college application essays and personal statements. They’re sharing their life experiences with people they’ve never met who will make a decision that will impact the rest of their lives. For students, parents, and teachers, this is a stressful time.

I remember how difficult it was to write my college application essays and personal statements. I wrote plenty of essays for classes, the SATs, AP tests, and IB exams. I could write about almost any subject in an hour or less using a standard 5 paragraph structure. But there’s one subject I didn’t learn how to write about: myself.

In Model UN, I’m thankful to have found the experience, help, and inspiration that helped me through the college application process. I reflected on my role as a Secretary-General leading a 200+ person program that had seen 5 different advisors in 3 years. I reached out to MUN alumni who were attending the dream schools to which I was applying. And while writing my essay, I realized that Model UN was a way for me to express myself.

College application essays and the personal statement are opportunities to write about meaningful experiences. Not every high school student who does MUN should write about it. But if you read Best Delegate, then Model UN is most likely a meaningful part of your high school career. If so, then here’s a question that might help you:

What does Model UN mean to you?

This question is not intended to be the actual prompt for your essay, but more of a starting point for brainstorming topics. What is it about Model UN that means so much to you? There’s probably something you get out of MUN that relates to other, more personal areas of your life.

Do you have a story – MUN-related or not – that says something about you? A powerful story will evoke some emotion from you – that’s how you know it’s meaningful. And if you communicate it well, then whoever reads your essay will feel some of that emotion, too.

Let’s frame the college application essay and personal statement by boiling them down into their simplest form: a piece of communication. You are telling another person something important about you. This means that you need to A) know what’s important about you, and B) describe it in a way that’s easy to understand and remember.

With this framework in mind, here are 10 tips on how to write your college application essay and personal statement:

Know What’s Important About You

1. Seek solitude. The only way you’re really going to understand yourself is to be by yourself. This means being physically alone – in your room, in a library, or at a park – as well as mentally alone – turn off your cell phone, sign off Facebook, unplug the Internet. You want to be in a place – literally and figuratively – where you can be undisturbed and able to reflect.

2. Make time. You can’t rush self-reflection – it takes time. And you can’t schedule it by blocking off a couple hours on the weekends. It’s more of a daily exercise, even if it’s only 5 minutes – as long as it’s 5 minutes of solitude.

3. Search your feelings. As you sit down to brainstorm essay topics, your mind might wander to recent events, tasks you need to do, or something completely random. Instead of cycling through different thoughts, focus on your feelings. Since you’re in the throes of college admissions, you might be anxious, nervous, or afraid. Push past that. Think about how you got to where you are – to this point in your student career, to where you live now, to your personal situation – and see what emotions that brings up. Different stories or images might come to mind that are associated with what you’re already feeling. These are potential topics for your essay.

4. Give yourself perspective. After getting emotional, try becoming detached from your experience. Examine yourself from points of view other than your own. Question your assumptions. You might learn something new about a situation you thought you knew. This might be a way to demonstrate personal growth in your essay.

5. Be authentic. At the end of the day, you have to be honest with yourself and in your essay. The college application is not a test; it’s an examination. A test checks to see whether you know something about a subject or not. An examination is a chance to show what you know. In this case, the subject is you. College is rooted in ancient Greek philosophy, and one important lesson is to “know thyself.”

Be Easy to Understand and Remember

6. Share a story. Stories are easy to remember because they’re logical – they have a beginning, middle, and end. You start by describing a situation; you continue by explaining an event that changed the situation; and the end is a personal lesson. Start with a small example and then draw larger meaning from it.

7. Set a theme. The academic metrics, extracurricular activities, and other interests on your application might look like they have nothing to do with one another. The essay is a chance to unify the different parts of your application by drawing a common thread between them, i.e. the things that are important about you.

8. Reach out for help. Remember, the college application is not a test – it’s okay to ask for help. Share your essays with people you trust. You want feedback from people who know you and are strong writers. Ideally, they attended or currently attend the colleges to which you’re applying.

9. Write multiple drafts. You might have several potential essay topics, different ways to write about them, and tons of feedback from various people. The only way you’re going to know what works is go through the exercise of writing multiple drafts.

10. Relax. The most important personal lesson I learned through Model UN is that you can’t worry about the things outside your control – who’s in your committee, whether your chair likes you, if you win an award – you have to focus on the things within your control – getting up to make a speech, doing the best you can at a conference, having fun.

This lesson applies beyond Model UN – decisions made by admissions committees are outside your control – choosing to apply and putting together the best application you can are the only things within your control. Strive, don’t stress, for success – let success come to you. And realize that college admissions does not define you – you do. Put together the best applications you can, submit them, and enjoy your final year of high school.

I know that these tips are difficult to practice, but so is the college admissions process. The most difficult things to do are often the things most worth doing. I try to practice these tips as I write my own Best Delegate articles, which often begin as personal statements and end as personal lessons. I didn’t learn how to write about myself in high school, but I’ve had to figure it out as I’ve devoted more time to this blog – and I’m still learning. MUN is an inspirational experience – that’s what Model UN means to me.

Model UN has offered countless benefits to high school and university students, both academically and socially, including improving public speaking, debate, and research skills. However, Model UN is often overlooked in middle schools, especially in middle schools that are unaffiliated or unconnected to local high schools. Many middle school teachers have either not heard of Model UN or are not sure how to start and train a team. What is the best solution to this issue? Have local high school and university Model UN teams start a team themselves! The purpose of this article is to teach high school/university club leaders how to start and lead a middle school Model UN team.

Finding a Local Middle School

The first step that needs to be taken to start a middle school team is to identify local middle schools that do not currently have a Model UN team. The initial point of contact in this process is the school administration, usually the Principal, Assistant Principal, or Club Coordinator. Then, you will likely be referred to social studies or world language teachers who have displayed interest in serving as an advisor for the team. Effective communication with interested teachers is key to maintain interest, so it is recommended, in addition to email, to schedule an in-person meeting with interested teachers to explain what Model UN is and your vision and plans for the team, and to address any questions or concerns that they potentially have. This process will likely be different for each school, but these are typically the main actions that need to be taken to gain school approval for starting the team. After gaining approval and securing a team advisor, work with the advisor and other teachers to advertise to the students. Create advertising materials such as posters and flyers to distribute to students and create a video or write an advertisement that teachers could show to their students.

Training

The training process for middle school teams has several key distinguishing factors when compared to high school and collegiate training. It is likely that students aged 11-14 are not as aware of the current events and pressing global issues that are typically discussed in Model UN committees. It is also possible that these students are not sure of what the United Nations actually does, or what it even is! This is why it is crucial to explain the basics of the United Nations during the training process. However, during the initial training sessions, it is best to focus on simple non-MUN related topics. Examples of such topics include the school dress code policy or who should be the Super Bowl halftime performer. These topics require little to no research, as they mainly rely on prior knowledge or opinions, and allow the training to be focused on understanding parliamentary procedure and public speaking skills. After this, more relevant yet simple MUN topics may be introduced, such as climate change, poverty, and food security, where the focus of training will have a greater emphasis on research and debate skills.

Conferences

After completing training, members will probably want to attend an actual conference. However, there’s only one issue: there is a severe lack of middle school conferences outside of large metropolitan areas. If this is the case, hosting your own mini-conferences are a great option! Hosting 1-day informal conferences for the team offer a variety of benefits to both the middle school team and the mentor high school/collegiate team. The middle school team will benefit from this by being able to participate in a locally-based conference for little to no cost, while mentor team will gain significant experience in conference organizing. This serves as a valuable opportunity to train members of the mentor team for chairing and conference secretariat positions, thus providing more knowledge and experience that can be applied to hosting your own high school/collegiate conference. You can also invite other local middle school teams or novice high school delegates to attend the conference, allowing members of your middle school team to gain exposure to the local circuit, thus further preparing middle school students to enter the high school Model UN circuit.

Conclusion

By starting a Model UN team at local middle schools, you can ensure that students will be prepared to jump right into Model UN at the high school level. Students will also be significantly more qualified and experienced to hold club and conference leadership positions sooner in their high school Model UN careers. It also expands the local middle school circuit and increases the amount of participants in the high school and collegiate circuit. And most importantly, students will be sooner equipped with the various skills offered by participating in Model United Nations.

Greetings, fellow MUN enthusiasts!

My name is Rose Jacobs, and it is my pleasure to serve as the Editor of Best Delegate’s MUNI Alumni Media Team for the 2017-18 year. Best Delegate, and my time as both camper and staff at the MUN Institute in particular, played an important role in my growth as both a delegate and a person, and I’m excited have an opportunity to share this passion with the rest of the MUN community. The diverse, enthusiastic, and incredible group of Media Associates working on the MUNI Alumni Team feel the same way — we are all looking forward to an amazing year of articles, listicles, quizzes, videos, webinars, and so much more as we share our love of the MUN Institute with the rest of the Best Delegate family!

To introduce myself, I am a freshman in the Dual BA program between Sciences Po and Columbia University currently living in Reims, France, though I grew up in Chicago and it will always be my first home. I’ve been a part of the Best Delegate team for the past couple of years, first as a member of the MUNI Alumni Board back in 2015-16, then as a Media Associate for Training Content. I attended the MUNI Ambassador Program at Georgetown the summer of 2015 and worked as a Residential Counselor last summer; my time at MUNI introduced me to some of my most fond memories and closest friends. Regarding general MUN experience, I’ve attended over 26 conferences as a delegate everywhere from China to India to Washington, D.C. and have served as the Secretary-General of three conferences on top of that, including the largest conference for middle school delegates in the Midwest. But this article isn’t about me — it’s about the amazing team of Media Associates who will be working with me to produce exciting, engaging content for everyone from MUNI Alumni to those still thinking about attending the MUN Institute.

If you ever want to contact me for any reason, my door is always open at rose@bestdelegate.com. I’m looking forward to an awesome school year!

Cassidy Baratta – Media Associate 

Cassidy Baratta is 15 years old and lives in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. She is a sophomore at Hopkinton High School. She joined her school’s Model UN club in the winter of her freshman year, and over the past year, she has grown a passion for Model UN. She followed this passion through her freshman year by attending the UMASS conference and Westwood Crisis Conference, as well as attending the MUNI Ambassadors session at Harvard University over the summer. Recently, she was given opportunity to be the vice president of her school’s Model UN organization for the upcoming year, and plans on attending many conferences as well as another session with MUNI in the upcoming year. This is Cassidy’s first year serving as an intern for Best Delegate, and she is very excited to be a MUNI Alumni Media Associate for the upcoming year!

Lexi Rothschild-Edwards – Media Associate

Lexi is currently a high school senior who hopes to study international relations and economics in college next year. Since her freshman year of high school, her love for MUN has shaped her passion for global politics and human rights. After participating in the MUNI Diplomat and Crisis programs at Columbia University in 2015 and 2016, respectively, Lexi went on to win numerous awards in both General Assembly and Crisis committees. This summer, she attended the Yale Model UN Institute, a selective international relations and Model UN program for high school students offered by the Yale International Relations Association. Motivated by her public speaking, debate, and leadership experience from Model UN, Lexi recently implemented a Mock Trial program at her high school and looks forward to leading her team in its first statewide tournaments later this year. Additionally, Lexi serves as the Deputy Communications Director for Social Media at World for Refugees, a global youth-based organization dedicated to raising the profile of the refugee crisis worldwide. Lexi is extremely excited to join the Best Delegate MUNI Alumni Team this year!

Anusha Tummallapalli – Media Associate 

Anusha Tummallapalli is a senior at Marvin Ridge High School in Charlotte, North Carolina. She serves as the founding President and Head-Delegate of her Model UN team. Anusha is a two-time alumna of the MUN Institute, enrolled in the Diplomat program in 2016 and the Secretary-General program in 2017. Her favorite aspect of Model UN, besides learning about pressing global issues and meeting interesting people, is chairing and conference organizing and hopes to further pursue this interest during her collegiate Model UN career. While her MUN experience as a delegate so far has consisted of traditional committees, she is interested in exploring crisis committees and Press Corps in future conferences. Outside of Model UN, Anusha enjoys photography and videography, traveling, and learning new languages. She is currently a student in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program and is interested in pursuing a degree in International Relations in university. Anusha is looking forward to work with Best Delegate and the Media Team!

Daniel Ordonez – Media Associate 

Born American in Laredo, TX and raised in Reynosa, Mexico by two Mexican parents, I got into MUN freshman year after a short stint in debate club where I realized I liked MUN more than formal debate and started the MUN club at my school. I became Secretary-General for the next 2 years and attended the MUN Institute in the Diplomat and Ambassador programs.  During those programs, I met a lot of people, some whom have become great friends, and got the full MUNI experience. I’m currently a high school junior and advisor to the Secretary-General of my MUN club. Outside of MUN, I also love cars and am a huge Formula 1 fan.

The following article was written by the Secretary General of GBSMUN III, Yoana Sidzhimova.

When I first think of one day Model UN conferences, the most significant memory that stands out to me is the terror I once felt in attending them; this is because of how good the local teams would be and the transition I have made to being this year’s GBSMUN III Secretary General. I say this because I think all veteran Model UN delegates have the same emotions towards one day conferences, a shift from fear that we would not be good enough in the beginning to a feeling of appreciation and gratitude because of the growth we have been able to see in ourselves.

The delegate of France speaking in the IAEA

This year, the Glenbrook South High School Model UN Conference was held on April 15th, 2017. Our conference was attended by 185 delegates and hosted nine committees: five general assemblies (The World Health Organization; The DIsarmament and International Security Committee; The International Atomic Agency; The Social Cultural and Humanitarian Committee; and The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights), two crisis committees (The Security Council and The Aztec Empire of 1519) and  one joint crisis committee (The JCC Cuban Missile Crisis with the Soviet Politburo and Executive Committee of the National Security Council).

Glenbrook South prides itself on the intimate yet well prepared committees we host each year. Rather than creating a plethora of crisis committees that would be difficult to manage from the perspective of crisis staff, we create very specific and well orchestrated crisis committees due to the amount of committees we provide. We believe this creates a better learning environment for the delegates attending our conference, offering them a crisis experience that follows through for the entire conference.

Secretary General Yoana Sidzhimova

Without a doubt, what makes GBSMUN so successful is both simple yet crucial: dedication. Dedication factors in two significant ways, through the time put into developing the conference and selecting a Secretariat that is equally invested. Traditionally, the GBS MUN team begins planning for our conference upon the first board meeting of the new board for the upcoming year in May- eleven months before the conference will actually occur. When preparation begins early, a heightened attention to all intricacies that form a conference is inevitable. When becoming Secretary General, what I valued most was the advice I acquired from previous secretary generals of Glenbrook South and other local high schools- so here are some of my most important pointers:

1.Quality over quantity.

From facilitating dias evaluations at our conference, I noticed a trend in favorable feedback regarding the amount of committees we offered and the effort put into them. I believe a delegates experience is more positive with committees that demonstrate the time put into them. Hosting many committees with crises that do not get as much attention will make delegates want more attention and angry with the strung out nature of the committee’s staffers.

2.Set due dates for secretariat members and keep with them!

For our conference, we created target dates for the following milestones in developing our conference: committee preferences for chairs, topic submission, first draft of background guides, second draft of background guides, and final draft of background guides with format review. Making check-in dates ensures all work that needs to be done is being completed and relieves unnecessary headaches that could arise closer to the conference!

3.Communication is key.

It sounds cliche but I think it’s incredibly important. For our conference, I made a goal of communicating with our entire secretariat once or twice a month through email in order to keep everyone aware of what is coming up and what needs to be completed. We also created group chats through iMessage and GroupMe between crisis, the dais staff, and myself to discuss how things are going both in preparation and on the day of.

4. Plan in advance.

While this might be a broad statement, I think it is most applicable in regards to planning successful crisis committees for a one-day conference. For GBSMUN, all crisis dais’ were required to prepare three potential crises for both topics, to be able to influence debate in a certain way, the preparation included: the form of the crisis (newspaper article, skype call, visit to committee, etc.), the props needed to complete the crisis, a brief description of the crisis, and a goal for the crisis to determine relevancy to the committee. On the day of, crisis staff is pulled in a thousand different directions- having a preset plan for at least the beginning of your conference allows crisis staffers more time to prepare and develop better crises for the duration of the entire day.

5. All hands on deck…

…especially two hours before the conference is finished. The last two hours of your one-day conference will be high strung, but it is possible to avoid forgetting an important aspect to ending your conference right. First, I suggest setting a time deadline for awards and locking a google document at the said time, to ensure that all chairs have submitted their awards before the deadline. Second, assign separate individuals to the following tasks: completing a google slide presentation with award templates with correct award winners, printing all awards, checking all awards are correct, counting points of schools to determine winners (if you award delegations), and communicating with dias staffers on how awards will be given out. The awards ceremony is the final impression you are able to give of your conference, make sure to do everything in your power to portray a final great impression!

You might have thought that one day conferences are not that difficult to organize because of the longer travel conferences you have attended, but if you are hosting a one day conference you need to forget this mindset. While it might seem as if one day conferences are easy to orchestrate, they will function fluidly with a mindset which believes they do not require much work. It is your job to put in the hard work and time to make your conference successful to make it look effortlessly executed to other teams on the day of. You’ve got this!