Participating in the Model UN conference in NYC was one of my favorite experiences while attending Rowan University. It challenged me mentally and inspired me to further pursue my passion for foreign policy through its long days and intense conference schedules. Even though there were an absurd amount of hours to be put in, it was so worth it to be able to understand the inner working of peacemaking and negotiations.
My delegation and I were faced with a difficult task. On top of the normal challenges to be expected during a conference, we were representing and defending the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which is more commonly known as North Korea. This gave us a disadvantage in drafting resolutions and working papers with other member states. Nobody really wants to work with the country that has a reputation of not being a team player. There were times throughout the conference where we would walk up to a delegation, they would read our nametags, and then immediately walk away.
But I was determined to make an impression on this conference, so I became the most aggressively friendly delegate I could have imagined. I talked to LITERALLY everyone in the room and made it known that the DPRK meant business as my partner diligently and wholeheartedly worked with a group to draft a resolution to solve the world’s modern energy crisis. Together, we gathered 52 other delegations, representing a multitude of countries, onto our one resolution.
The conference itself was extremely educational, but mingling and working with all of the other students was probably the best part of the experience. At the Model UN, over half of the delegations were actually from foreign countries, and I was able to meet so many different types of people. My partner, Vanessa, and I were able to eat lunch with students from places like Colorado, Massachusetts, France, Germany, Austria, and Chile. After strenuous hours of negotiations, we would meet up with the delegations from France and Canada and have the best time. I got to practice a lot of my languages with different students, and I was so pleased with the amount of cultural exposure, that I ended every night with my cheeks hurting from smiling so much.
For the entirety of the trip, my heart sang. It fluttered and screamed with excitement throughout each activity whether it be negotiations, walking in Central Park, running to the Empire State Building, or getting coffee at 5 in the morning. I knew I wanted to work for the UN before applying to partake in this conference, but after attending NMUN, I know for sure that this is everything that I want to do.