What did you do this summer?
Bach, Class of 2018, attended a Model East Asia Summit at the US Embassy in Vietnam. Here is his report:
This summer I took part in an event held at the US Embassy in Vietnam, my home country, similar to Model United Nations (MUN) but smaller, called the Model East Asia Summit (MEAS). Even though this was my first time and I didn’t win any prizes, it was a good opportunity for me to learn from other participants, find out what I really like about MUN and to get ready for the MUN & the Debate club that I belong to at school.
Before I participated in this event, I hadn’t really spent that much time on researching about the process of MUN apart from my club time, but thanks to the preparation for the conference and the large amount of free time, I was able to learn a lot about the skills I need in MUN. For instance, it’s normally not that challenging for me to speak up in daily life, but it was rather difficult for me not to stutter during my speech and think on my feet during the conference due to the lack of experience. So I guess “practice makes perfect” is the right saying for this.
Now that I have an idea of how to communicate the “United Nations” way, I can’t wait to try it out again!
「この夏、私は母国ベトナムの米国大使館で開催された、模擬東アジアサミットという模擬国連のようなカンファレンスに参加しました。初めての経験で、賞などはとれなかったものの、他の参加者から学び、模擬国連の面白さを知り、模擬国連と自分が所属する学校のディベートクラブに向けて準備をする良い機会になりました。
このイベントに参加する前は、部活以外で模擬国連の流れについて調べることにあまり時間を使ったことはないのですが、このカンファレンスの準備とたくさんの自由時間のおかげで、模擬国連参加に求められるスキルについて多くを学ぶことができました。日常生活のなかで意見を言うのは自然にできても、会議中に口ごもることなく、素早く決断して発言することは、経験がないとなかなか難しいといった気づきもありました。「継続は力なり」、ということなのかなと思います。
“国連流”のコミュニケーション法を学んだので、また実践してみるのが楽しみです！」
