AMSA-Unpad MUN

Backstory

How did I got into MUN? Honestly, it's kind of a happy coincidence.

The story started in late October. At the time, I already had quite a few experience of doing writing in English and so I was looking into improving my English speaking skill. Someone in the LINE group of my faculty then shared a broadcast for this MUN. I had heard about MUNs before then and had known at a very surface level what it is but never really looked into it, what I knew however was that MUN is conducted fully in English. And so I was interested (but still didn't really bother actually learning about it at the time) that I then asked the person who sent the broadcast to ask more about it. She said that she had a referral code that'd allow for a discount on the registration fee, which made me even more inclined to join.

Beginner's (Fatal) Mistake

So I wound up registering. But after that I almost never thought much about it. I was being incredibly naive by not actually looking into what an MUN is and genuinely thinking that one could just go in blind (which is not something you should do, especially as a beginner). A few weeks passes, it is now November, and I had only realized on the 11th about an email from the comittee that was sent a day before (on the 10th). The email reminded everyone to join the Whatsapp Group for the council and the event, as well as to submit the position paper with a deadline on the 15th. To which I thought to myself "what's a position paper?".
Now, anyone that ever joined -- or even just well-informed (unlike me at the time) -- an MUN would know that at some time after you register but before the actual event, you'll be sent a country allocation, study guide, rules of procedure, etc.. Along with the format and deadline for the position paper, among other things. Me at the time didn't know anything about this. So, I was instantly shocked to see another email from the committee, sent at the 20th of October, containing all that have been mentioned above. I instantly panicked when reading the Rules of Procedure and realizing how complex it actually is. I didn't understand, almost all that are in there, at all. Moreover, I was taken aback by the Study Guide and how many things that were in there (in retrospect, it's not that large of a study guide but I was shocked regardless because I didn't know anything about a study guide beforehand).

So there I was, utterly not ready to do this MUN, particularly for writing the position paper which was due in 4 days. 4 days is actually quite a lot of time to write a position paper (iykyk), but I didn't think it'd be enough time for me. Aside from the fact I didn't know anything about a position paper, I was also going to go to Bali for over a week on the 12th. I legitimately considered just bailing on the whole thing but decided not to because a) I already paid and b) I ain't a quitter.

The Preparation

The whole time of me writing my position paper, I was in Bali. Any time that I was able to open my laptop (even when in a car) I'd do my position paper. In retrospect, I took the task of writing it too seriously because it's my first time (now I know you don't have to put that much effort into it unless you want to win best position paper award). But another reason why I had to use all my available time was because I was representing Qatar, a nation that really didn't have that much to say about education reform for stress reduction during the pandemic. So I had to try to find anything and latch onto it (at the time I didn't know that when a nation you're representing doesn't have a stance on something, you're basically able to just make up your stance).

I was a fast learner though and quickly picked up what was it that I had to write about. But I think to this day I still struggle with writing a position paper. The research part of it is fun, I legitimately enjoy being lost in a rabbit hole following all the citation links in a document to spawn even more documents to sift through (not an effective way to research, don't do this). However, I had (and still have) difficulties putting pen and paper to convert all of the (many) information I gathered into a solid piece of writing, let alone a comprehensive solution (which should be the bulk of the position paper).

Other than the chaos (that really shouldn't be one) of writing my position paper, I didn't really prepare much other than watching a recording of an online MUN on Youtube and asking my friend Bagus (huge shout out to him by the way), who have joined an MUN before. He gave me a few tips about what I should do during the conference. The biggest question I asked was how exactly does an MUN proceed, because at that point I still don't have a solid grasp of how an MUN works. He said to me that I'll only understand when I am in the conference.

The Event

This MUN had an MUN 101 session on the night of the first day. I can't remember whether I walked out of that MUN 101 with substantially more grasp of what I'm about to step into the next day. But I do know that the usual diagram of how an MUN works (you know the one with boxes of MC, GSL, etc. and a bunch of loops & arrows), though certainly is an accurate representation of how MUN works, didn't improve my understanding.

Bagus was right, I'll only understand when I am in the conference. I quickly learned what was going on (and getting what the aforementioned complex diagram is trying to say) and picked up the pace. I know from experience that in any social space, if you seldom speak or engage early on, you'll wound up being uncomfortable in said space and hesitant to engage until the end. So I made sure to actively spoke in both the GSL and the MCs at the start.

At first, my speech was ahead-of-time compiled, I would write my speech first and then just read what I wrote when delivering a speech. I quickly I realized however that doing this crippled me when I had to suddenly do a speech or when I just didn't have time in advance to write a speech. And so, I quickly switch to having my speech just-in-time compiled by not preparing my speech at all and make the content of my speech on the spot as I speak. I did this fully realizing that my speech would be awful early on but that it'd gradually improve as I do more and more speeches. This is still what I do to this day and while my speeches are certainly still not as good as someone with pre-written speech, I'm glad I took that route because I am now quite proud with my skill in delivering impromptu speeches.

This particular MUN I think was a perfect introduction for me to MUN because it has all the nook and crannies of a MUN conference. There was a crisis update, (two) shadow delegates, and the quiet ejection of me from a bloc. It also introduced me early to an "edge case" in a MUN conference by the fact that at the end of this conference, the whole council (except me) has formed a bloc. Looking back with more experiences, I now know that this seldom happens (and why). The conference turned out that way because of 2 reasons :

1. One of the shadow delegate brought up a lot of points against the solution of the aforementioned bloc that I wound up agreeing. This then sparks my own doubt with said solution as well.

2. I wasn't able to, mainly because it was my first MUN, to poach members of their bloc onto a new bloc led by me.

This actually became an interesting case that I'd ask MUN veterans I came across in my MUN journey regarding what should have I done in this situation. To sum up their answers, I should've tried to make allies and like-minded delegate who also has doubt with the solution proposed. After gaining allies, try to introduce an amendment alongside them that resolves or minimizes our contention with the solution. If the creation of this new "opposition" bloc occurred early enough, create a separate working paper or draft resolution.

To the very end, I still disagreed with their solution but wasn't able to make a counter-proposal. Knowing that I'd get severely outvoted, I was grasping at straws looking into possible ways that I could prevent solutions that I disagree with from being passed. And so, I read through the ROP looking for anything that I could do and found a particularly interesting motion, motion to divide the question. I brought that motion forward right before voting and of course it didn't pass. There was only one other delegate who voted for it (could've been an ally to oppose the DR considering he also had doubts with parts of the DR, if only I've had done what the previous paragraph said). The voting procedure continues and the DR passed almost unanimously with me as the lone nay vote.

But at the time and to this day, I think that was the moment that made me fell in love with this hobby. MUN really is an RPG and the ROP (rules of procedure) is filled with abilities that a delegate can use. Indeed, until now I think my favorite part of an MUN conference is (to borrow a term from chess) the endgame because that is where the fun stuff in the ROP kicks in such as reordering of the DR, divide the house, divide the question (by article, clause, or subclause), as well as all the politicking you would do in tandem with those fun motions.

Ending Notes

In the end I won an award of Verbal Commendations. Why I won I think I owe a big part of to Bagus and one of his main advice, which is to just keep talking and never not be active. Although now in retrospect I do know that the advice is not entirely accurate (there's a lot of nuance not present in that advice), it made me always speak in all MCs and UMCs, even if I didn't always have something substantive to say. This ensure I was being consistent and that my presence in the council is always felt (to some extent).

This MUN also had a very transparent grading system (). And, looking back at it, while MUNs are certainly more than just awards, the fact that I won something ended my first time on a very high note. But the fact that I could've done much better (this particular council of this MUN conference actually released their grading sheet, and so I knew in what way I fell short as a delegate) made me want to join more MUNs.

Until next time.

NB : I only knew about personal feedback in the my second MUN (the next one). I really should've asked the chairs for that in this conference.