Written by Poum (Class of 2020, Thailand)
On January the 18th, 2019, we welcomed 13 students from different schools. We, as the Model United Nations (MUN) Club, were very excited as this was something we were planning for and working hard for, especially An with the help of Ayana and our club members. Since October, we we discussed the possibility of having UWC ISAK’s first overnight activity, and for us not to keep MUN just as something exclusive to our community, but to open the experience up beyond our campus.
MUN is not just an academic experience, where we compete to win prizes, but an experience to open our minds to different perspectives, and for us to understand that people from different places will inevitably have different goals. In MUN, after negotiation and lobbying, we will come to a conclusion; a solution by the end that the majority of country representatives agree on. I believe that this is an excellent practice to unite people, with different views, different backgrounds, to be together and to set aside differences.
Over the three days, we discussed taking action after natural disasters. Delegates both from within and external to UWC ISAK deeply prepared for the event, which fostered a very interesting conference with a variety of new perspectives brought to the table. Even after the conference had ended, the delegates curiosity to learn about important world issues continued.
Having a positive impact in the world of the future must start with awareness and understanding. Understanding drives motivation to make changes, and to become leaders in the real world. We hope to spread the benefits of MUN even further next year and to allow many more students from all over Japan (and possibly beyond) to gain this experience.
