IRP 471: NMUN Response Paper

Nunez 1

Glenda Nunez

Professor D’Amico

IRP 471: NMUN Response Paper

30 April 2011

NMUN Final Reflections Paper

When I first responded to Dr. D’Amico’s email advertising the Model United Nations program, I could not foresee what this experience would be like or how it would affect me throughout the last semester of my senior year. In fact, there could not have been a better way to conclude my undergraduate studies at Syracuse University. While everyone who was fortunate enough to be a part of this experience can all agree, it may be difficult to understand for people who do not know what our group of delegates went through. The drive, energy, and motivation to keep us going throughout the conference as delegate representatives of Kazakhstan, our assigned country, was nothing short of amazing. However, there was so much more going on behind the scenes. And while our conference was in the Big Apple itself, would it be hard to believe if I said none of us made it farther than a few blocks from our hotel? Regardless, the experience that I was given not only helped me as an international relations major but it also addressed that empty, lost and confused feeling that most seniors go through as we prepare to begin our lives in the ‘real’ world.

The months before the conference were spent reading over anything we could find about Kazakhstan, going through quizzes, and position papers. However, we were told that there wasn’t enough room at the hotel for everyone so two of us would be staying behind. Every quiz and reading assignment left us nervously wondering which two of us would be the ones to stay behind. To make matters worse, we had a speech contest where we could be given any question about Kazakhstan ranging from economic partners to foreign policy that we had to answer in front of Dr. D’Amico and our two head delegates. Before the conference, this part was a nightmare to me. Also, since I was so stressed out over my other classes, family issues, and my role as student manager at one of my jobs, I had the unfortunate tendency to put this class as last priority. However, I did not want to be left behind and put my best foot forward and tried to bear through the speeches. I have to admit that I had some good and bad days depending on the material but in the end, it was obvious that the preparation we had gone through as a class was more than enough to serve as our pillar of knowledge for the conference.

The conference, on the other hand, was a completely unique experience that was a bit intimidating at first. I couldn’t help but have a minor panic attack while waiting for the train from Syracuse to New York City. What had I gotten myself into? I tried to imagine what was in store for me during our six-hour train ride. The closer we got to the city, the more anxious I became. You see, even though we had spent so much time researching and talking about Kazakhstan, I couldn’t help but feel that I still didn’t know enough. I was definitely sure that I didn’t have the session procedures memorized and wondered if I would be too scared to say anything at all during the conference. The rest of the students in the class seemed to already have such a diplomatic ring to the things they said that I couldn’t help but feel inadequate around them. Unfortunately, this caused me to feel intimidated about voicing my opinions in class. “You either sink or swim on the first day,” was what I remembered someone saying in class about the conference during the first week of the semester and it became engrained in my head as we walked into our hotel. “Hello, Kazakhstan? Are you NPT?” I was taken by surprise as I was stopped in my tracks on the 8th floor of the hotel by someone who abruptly stepped in front of me. I panicked, smiled, shook my head and said, “No English.” Yoonha and Christina followed suit and we hurried away. As we waited for the elevator I regretted how easily I had already managed to run away from my duties as a delegate of Kazakhstan. This failed encounter made me feel that maybe I wasn’t ready for this.

Sink or swim. Sink or swim. The first session was starting and my thoughts raced as I wondered if I was going to be letting my partner, Lu, down. We were able to scramble towards the front of the room and find seats in the second row between the delegates representing Georgia, Ecuador, and Portugal. Georgia seemed to notice how tense I was and made light of the situation by making jokes about how serious everyone was at the conference. While I appreciated her helpful nature, I didn’t want to seem unprofessional so I struggled to maintain a straight face throughout her comedy routine of which the dais was the main target. As soon as the basic rules were explained and roll call was finished, someone called for a caucus session and everyone scattered. Our first mission was to set the agenda but as Lu and I scanned the crowd I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by the size of our committee. The first country we ran into was Hungary and it was amazing how Lu and I fell right into our roles. We went from one cluster to another working off of each other’s energy to get the general feel of what order everyone wanted for the agenda topics. When the dais signaled the end of the first caucus, I took my seat feeling extremely proud of myself. Contrary to before when we had to give speeches in class, I had no problem walking up to anyone in the room and starting conversation. Thank goodness that I didn’t sink! With my worries about letting everyone down put behind me, Lu and I became rock stars in our first committee session. Towards the end of the first session we received a note from Kyrgyzstan saying that we should work together. We didn’t know it at the moment but we were on our way to forming a great team to represent Central Asia. At our team meeting that night, many expressed that they felt unprepared but I felt the complete opposite.

The next day we had our mission briefings at the Kazakhstan embassy so we marched over the couple of blocks to our meeting. In between sharing band-aids for a couple of the girls whose heels had done a number on their feet, I listened intently to everything our gracious host had to say. It was incredible that this man would take the time out of his busy schedule to meet with college students. Not only that but you could feel the passion in everything he said. He answered everyone’s questions thoroughly and gave us fresh insight into our committee topics. Afterwards we went back into session for our NPT committee and we began to create our own cluster which was made up of Kazakhstan (Lu and I), Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Slovenia and the rogue country of Equitorial Guinea who felt more comfortable with the people in our group than those of the African Union which was where he was supposed to be, geographically anyway. Our group was also friendly with another cluster made up of Georgia, Ecuador, Norway, and Finland. It was only the second day and we had already fallen into our roles as if we had been doing this for years.

By Thursday, the system we had developed worked wonders and the group dynamic was simply amazing. While we listened as other delegates complained of having to work for four hours and were running on two hours of sleep, we couldn’t help but feel proud of our group work. Kyrgyzstan typed up our report in less than an hour during caucus with such ease while Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, and Lu and I went around ‘selling’ our paper. I was proud that I managed to get the United Arab Emirates, Ireland, Hungary, Greece, and a few others to become signatories to our report. Without saying anything we had developed a system where we would alternate roles around the room to get signatories to our report. We felt that our most unique idea was that of hosting an International Nuclear Energy Summit where each country would have an opportunity to host. While we had other ideas, this was the most unique idea that wasn’t already being proposed by the reports from the other groups.

In the end, our report didn’t make the cut so we went from feeling driven and motivated to sitting around in a group depression. However, as most of our ideas had been a part of other people’s reports, we didn’t feel that we needed to create an amendment which made it even more depressing to be in session seeing as we didn’t have much to do. During our last session on Friday we voted on amendments which was the longest and most testing session of all. No caucusing, no exiting the room, no chatting: 3 – 4 hours of sitting as you alternated arms to raise the placard with your country’s name on it. Tajikistan had gone to the bathroom and was locked out since we were in voting procedures. As for Lu, she had not been feeling well and had gotten locked out as well. Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, and I could only sit and wait to hear as we attempted to go through 54 amendments. And at the end of that last session I could only look back to the past few days and feel proud that I had followed through with my commitment.

Above all, the conference opened my eyes to an entire new world. For starters, I am well known to love everything international and love to travel abroad. I consider places such as Hong Kong and Tokyo my hometowns (even though I was born and raised in New York and of Bolivian/Colombian descent) and can roam their streets without a map. However, place me in the middle of New York City and I have no idea what to do. My interests have always been abroad so much so that I don’t identify with this country. So it was this conference’s location in NYC that opened my eyes to rekindle that feeling that I get when I am abroad but for my own country. While I would have loved to explore NYC more, I was too exhausted from the conference sessions.

Another thing that the conference offered was a mix of people from around the world that came from different walks of life. I was able to make friends with people from Poland, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, Texas, and Ohio. It was interesting to see how well we all meshed together regardless of where we came from. This truly was a great program to be a part of as a senior international relations major. I also have an enormous amount of respect for the people whose main language wasn’t English. I am currently studying Japanese but cannot fathom participating in a conference where the dialogue is much more complex and at a professional level that I am nowhere near yet. For example, the girls representing Turkmenistan were from Italia and while they were limited in their vocabulary, they could still get their points across. This was remarkable to me as I realized just how many international students there were in the room. However, it was easy to see that the language barrier wasn’t a problem as people were still able to form clusters and collaborate on their reports with ease.

Last but not least, the best value that this conference had for me was how it served to reignite my passion for my career. As a senior, I had been feeling burnt out. I always plan ahead trying to make sure that I am a few steps ahead of where I need to be. Additionally, I work 3 part-time jobs on campus so that I can cover the cost of my bills without being a burden to my family. The rest of the money I send home since we aren’t very financially secure. However, try juggling 3 part-time jobs, a full time college schedule, and the homework, tests, and duties that come with those roles. I was crashing and burning more and more everyday up until the conference. Yet participating at this amazing event completely revamped me so that I didn’t feel burnt out anymore. My passion for international studies was reignited and I have been doing my best to continue working towards a positive future. Being surrounded by the excellent support of my fellow delegates as well as being ‘in the field’ at the NMUN conference was the best thing that could have happened to me as a senior. It has been the best decision I could have made as an undergraduate and the best way to end my undergraduate career at Syracuse University. Who knows what would have happened to me if it wasn’t for this program. I came into the program feeling nervous about public speaking and feeling like I lacked professionalism but I came out a diplomatic delegate who was not afraid to speak her mind and hold her ground on her opinions. The tools that I have gained throughout this experience will continue to serve me in life regardless of where my path leads. It is an opportunity that should not be passed up as well as the fact that it is in the very capable hands of a supportive advisor such as Professor D’Amico whose advice and support is a valuable tool for any student at any stage of their undergraduate studies. Hopefully this program continues to expand, learn, and improve from each previous year. Our group was awarded Distinguished Delegation this year so the challenge has been issued to next year’s team to do better than we did and be the best representatives thatthey can be!