Felix Xu G9

When I first joined the Model United Nations (MUN) Club, I was very excited and full of questions.

The MUN competition, developed in the 1950s, is meant to give students hands-on learning in international relations, diplomacy, and the United Nations. The contest simulates a formal United Nations General Assembly or other major international conferences such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) meetings.

Over 400,000 students around the world participate in the MUN each year. What we need to do is to simulate these meetings with different agendas and cooperate with “representatives from other countries” to reach a unified consensus and decide on solutions to the international challenges at hand.

After a few practice sessions, my teammates and I went to the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region for our first competition. Upon arriving at the competition venue, I was so nervous that I felt a strong urge to quit. However, I eventually calmed down and focused on the competition. We were given the task of finding a consensus among the European nations, the former Soviet Union, and the United States for a secure future world, set against the backdrop of the Cold War when tensions were high between the two superpowers.

I was assigned the role of Italy’s foreign minister. Over two days, I worked with my partner Ziding, who portrayed Italy’s finance minister, discussing the economy, military strengths, as well as the cultural and religious aspects of each nation involved.

Together with the “representatives from other nations,” we worked diligently during the mock conference and formulated three draft resolutions. Initially, the “delegates from the Soviet Union” did not agree with any of the drafts, but through forming an alliance with the other “nations” we managed to pressure them into approving one. It was a great relief when all “delegates” signed the resolution by the end of the session.

Although I regretted not receiving any awards, I learned a lot during the process and felt confident that I could do better next time.