On The International Front...
By Virpratap Vikram Singh
On the weekend of the 17th and 18th of September 2011, the Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts had its first interaction with other colleges on a competitive levels in the form of TMMUN held in Mumbai.
Pre-Exam Jitters
As the first event that SSLA was formally attending, the 4 delegates, myself included, were very nervous, would we live up to expectations? Would we come out near the top or fall into our own excrement?
Personally, it took me a walk and a very awkward conversation with a stranger for me to shift focus from the intimidation of the event and move into a position which I would like to label as “SSLA owns all your bases” I decided that I as a proud representative of SSLA would go into this conference with the utmost confidence and fight to come out on top.
Life constantly gives us lessons on how nothing ever really goes to plan.
First, the agenda kept making me think, ‘What the hell do I do? I’m Indonesia! What possible role can I have in giving a solution to the question of Guam?’
Then there was the issue with research, as a first time Muner (the colloquial term for participants) I was hard pressed to find relevant documents on the agenda
Add in some confusion on the requirement of a Position Paper (your countries stance) or the requirement of an opening speech and you have 4 delegates sitting the day before the conference, petrified of what may come.
The conference started and I must honestly report that all things considered, it was a very well planned event, however, the delegates present had prepared so little that anyone from SSLA could have given most of them a run for their money.
“Delegate of Indonesia...”
I heard my name being called out, and I stood, as I shuffled my sheets and delivered an opening speech I had composed a matter of hours before the event started. I sat when I was done and heaved as sigh of relief at the fact that I hadn’t pissed anyone off nor did I upset the Chair.
After that, I began to sink into a sort of groove, I knew what I had information on, and I was persistent to ensure that my points were heard and that the committee knew that I was the delegate of Indonesia. Whether it was raising points of debates when we were in session, or whether it was throwing an opposing delegates comment back at her when she said:
“The delegate is slow, can you give me some time to understand what you said.”
“Okay, then how about I clarify...”
“Can you just let me absorb what you’ve said?!?”
“The delegate just mentioned she was slow, I’m only trying to make it easier for her to understand”
This leads me to the main message of this MUN, the Spirit of MUN
The Spirit
The spirit of an MUN is still not clear to me, and I’m sure it will continue to escape me for a long time. Why? Because an MUN has so many different faucets for an individual to show their prowness; there is research, public speaking, negotiating, and writing. All play a vital role in an MUN and this is what breathes life into an MUN, if you have a committee who can write, but can’t speak, then your MUN is doomed (ominous prophetic voice)
I think the message I’m trying to convey to the readers of this article is that an MUN is a great place to learn about the dirty side of international politics. As a core member of the MUN Team, I would like to invite any and all SSLA students considering a future in law, international relations, economics, environmental management, psychology and political studies to come and ask me or the other core members (Agnayee and Krithika) about the experiences you’ll get in an MUN.
Also, I would like to mention that in every committee SSLA was in, we won an award, so congratulations to them. Did you know that when you win an MUN, you can win money?
That’s right; MUN’s can earn you some cash for your next meal out! Now who thinks talking is a waste of time?
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