Ji Zixuan, Class 5, Junior 3, Shenzhen Xin’an Middle School Instructed by Tang Ying

Model United Nations (MUN) is a highly academic competition. In MUN, students act as delegates from different countries and participate in conferences on hot international issues.

Last year, my teacher Lu Wanjing introduced and convinced me to join the Guangdong MUN. The preliminary contest was in April. It required me to write a paper on my views on the DPRK nuclear issue. It was very hard for me because I needed to write a paper in English. I went to the library and read many books about the DPRK nuclear issue. Finally, I entered the second round of MUN.

The second round consisted of speeches and debates. There were three topics to choose from, which included “Should the family planning policy be abolished?”, “Should China introduce foreign talents on a large scale?,” and “Which is more important for middle school students, English learning or Chinese learning?” I did a lot of preparation and realized one thing: I competed not only with students from Shenzhen, but also with students from Guangdong. After winning the second round in June, I successfully entered the final round.

The final round was in October. It turned out that the MUN conferences were stimulating. There were topics on hot international issues at the MUN conferences for discussion. We drew lots to decide which country we would represent, and we needed to talk based on the country’s position on the topic. We also needed to write a “Position Paper” to show the country’s position and demonstrate how to resolve the problem of this topic. Finally, we stood on the stage and debated with delegates of “other countries.” If a contestant did outstanding in the finals, he or she would go to Yale University for the International MUN during the winter vacation of 2020.

There were eight days of MUN summit training from July 18 to 25 at the Zhuhai Campus of Sun Yat-sen University.

During the eight days, I experienced so much from this MUN training summit. Friendship, love and excitement were gained from this activity.

I learned knowledge from the experienced teachers, expressed my opinions freely in English at the conference and found another side of me, a brave and confident boy.