In this project we did Model United Nations, which is a simulation of the United Nations. The first conference was on the Venezuelan Refugee Crisis, this second was on Nuclear Proliferation. In the conference everyone took on their chosen county's perspective trying to get the resolution they aligned with to pass. I was a chair so instead of learning about a country, I wrote a briefs on both issues we are addressing: The Venezuelan Refugee Crisis and Nuclear Proliferation, and learned how to run the conference. Then of course working with my other chair ran the conference, bear the power of the gavel.
Issue Brief: Venezuela Refugee Crisis
Mid Way Project Reflection
So far the most interesting part of this project has been the conference. My favorite parts of the conference were Iran(August) taking digs at the US(Mya), Venezuela(Phillip) having 12 comments instead of 4, and North Korea’s(Gavin) character resulting in many gavel bangs. The whole conference made what we are working on come together and created even more interest in the project for me than before. I truly loved seeing the dynamics, speeches, and outcomes of this project come out at the conference. It was definitely the highlight of the conference. In this project, I grew in confidence. I became more confident in front of the class with the gavel, I became more confident in my ability to self manage my time, my ability to condense my writing, clearly explain things and the notion that I know how to do this, by doing them over and over again. Doing all these things helped me grow in my confidence in them. That is what I grew the most in so far in this project. I felt very prepared for the conference. While I was nervous about the conference, I knew that I was in fact prepared for it. Examples of how I was prepared for the conference was: I had all the papers I needed in a folder, I had a speech to follow, I had specific roles, I was in professional dress, I had all the tabs I needed open, and I really knew what I was doing. I did get lost towards the end, but I quickly reoriented myself by asking questions and looking at the script. I participated the whole time which was definitely due to my preparedness. That is why I was prepared for the conference. In this next conference, I plan on engaging more in carcus. I will help facilitate discussions and give helpful suggestions to delegates. I think this will give me a better understanding of what's going on as well as a more engaging experience. I will also work on managing my time more efficiently. I think that these two things will improve my experiences significantly.
Issue brief: Nuclear Proliferation
Final Project Reflection
The United Nations is not without its faults, however, I find that the system it uses seems to work. The way the delegates have to write resolutions and the format in which the conference itself is laid out seems like a very solid way to solve problems. Be that as it may, it's not smooth in the fact that “I'll do it if you’ll do it.” is the only thing all the delegates could agree on. The complexity of trying to find common ground and things that could be done showed me why we can’t just solve all or world problems. I think it is necessary to regard that as well as mind sovereignty and that MOST not ALL leaders have good intentions for their nations. I do not think that I have grown. Thinking about how I went about time management, project effort, and general work, I made no change. I made a list of what I had to do, worked hard, fairly procrastinated, but stayed on top of it all. I guess if I grew at all it was in my knowledge on why it is so difficult to make and sustain positive change, which I go into in the next paragraph. The major knowledge I have obtained is perspective. During the conference, Christine and I were tasked with finding consensus between the delegates. To help us do this I had gone around and interviewed the delegates about their positions. This showed me that there are all these options along with aims, and one states are not greater than the other’s; as a consequence, it is very difficult to achieve them all. Doing that opened my eyes to the complexity of our world and I said earlier “ why it is so difficult to make and sustain positive change.” If I could do this project again, I would change how I did my brief. I found the whole brief writing process very stressful, confusing, and overwhelming. If I could go back I would lay out what I was going to write, have a research template with questions, and ask for help on how to research. I think that this would have given me the clarity I needed to complete my brief more quickly, with more understanding, and without as much stress.