Friendships, Community, and Diplomacy

The 2023 IMUN conference was a first for many students. Considering that, delegates could be found feeling nervous or anxious. However, IMUN can be found as an opportunity to make friends by sharing experiences and ideas with people of different backgrounds. This experience transforms people through the exposure to different perspectives of the world. 

Press had the pleasure of interviewing Laura H, the vice-president and chair of the Security Council, and the Delegate of Georgia, Anya S, from the Environmental Committee. The interviews discussed their experience in IMUN. Since Laura has been participating in IMUN conferences for five years now and the Delegate of Georgia has only started participating in IMUN in the last year, their knowledge and experiences give varied perspectives regarding the conference. Both of their perspectives were essential in order to answer the following questions:  

 

Interviewer: How long have you been doing MUN for?

Laura: I have participated in MUN conferences for the past five years, and this will be my last year participating.

Anya: I’ve only started participating in MUN conferences in the last year. 

 

Interviewer: How have your experiences been so far with IMUN?

Laura: My experience with IMUN so far has been really fun as being vice-president of the Security Council. Also, I really like the committee that I am part of, so it has been a nice experience.

Anya: So far, the experience of being a delegate has become a lot better. I think I’ve definitely improved in regard to public speaking since previous conferences, which has been my goal for the last few conferences.  

 

Interviewer: During the conferences you were part of, did you make any friends? 

Laura: Yes! One of my colleagues is a chair, and we've become friends because of it. I also got to know people from her school. Not only that, but I also follow colleagues from previous conferences on social media, maintaining contact with them. So, MUN, it's a good way to make friends and work on your network. 

Anya: I have, I especially think lobbying times when delegates can talk and co-submit clauses with other delegations is a great opportunity to meet people.

 

Interviewer: Do you think MUN can be fun? 

Laura: Definitely. It can be really fun, especially because it's about how much effort you put into it, not only considering this for big countries but also smaller ones. You don't need to be a big country to have fun, just follow your policies and participate, because how the debate will be desenvolved is something unpredictable. So, just have fun! 

Anya: I think whether MUN is considered fun or not depends on every delegate's perspective. I definitely think that if delegates stop worrying so much about competition and the pressure related to discussing such important topics, they will find the conference more fun and will have a better time during MUN.