As I was walking to morning session today (in 18-degree weather
and freezing with the wind chill), I realized that I could very well be back in
DC later this year. Permanently. Georgetown is my ultimate dream, somewhere far and unknown.
I still don’t know if that is the best choice, but that’s what I want right at
this moment. Maybe things will change.
I only have one MUN conference left in my high school
career, and this one is for all the marbles: BMUN, which traditionally is the
most distinguished and competitive conference on the West Coast.
We have won delegation awards at BMUN for the past
twenty-two years with the best senior team with can put together. This year,
schools from the east coast are going to be coming over to compete, so
competition will be even stiffer. This conference, along with Nationals, are
the only two MUN conferences where perfect performance is absolutely expected,
with no exceptions. For the juniors going to Nationals, preparation begins with
the selection process in November and builds all the way through to March. For
BMUN, prep starts later but is no less intense because all participants are
expected to push themselves.
It is a school tradition to take the top few sophomores to
BMUN in order to build up future classes. By some ridiculous stroke of luck, I
was selected to go to BMUN as a sophomore two years ago, a decision that still
has me mystified, given my spotty record in the awards arena. I was brought
onto the team nearly a month late and partnered with a senior I barely knew. I
spent that winter break slaving over the access to nuclear technology and
research and the health risk standards of nuclear technology, topics that have
become my MUN “specialty.” I almost picked the Food and Agricultural
Organization. Things would certainly be different now if I had…
But I went off to Berkeley as a sophomore and conquered my
fear of flying but failed miserably in committee. Our first committee session
lasted until past eleven at night and I was thoroughly exhausted. And dejected.
This was a caliber of competition I could not match. At the awards ceremony, my
co-delegate and I were one of only two delegations in the entire team that
didn’t bring anything back home.
I was a complete wreck. I was determined to quit MUN,
despite the fact that being in the program had been my dream since primary
school. It took a lot of long talks and a special meal at a quiet Chinese
restaurant with cranberry juice to change my mind, and I am forever grateful to
those who did so.
Last year, I was over the moon to be selected to the
Nationals team and chosen as one of two Head Delegates at the UN for closing
ceremonies. That was a complete dream come true, and all on the day before my
birthday.
And now I’m going back as a single delegate in one of the
most competitive committees at the conference: the European Union. I have no
idea what I’m doing. The last time I was in the European Union, I was a
sophomore at the UC Davis conference and instead of discussing the accession of
Turkey to the EU, we had a “crisis” ten minutes in and ended up quelling a
rebellion in Republika Srpska. Or something like that. And then it hailed and
our chair came back from lunch drunk. Not a good experience.
But I had no choice. I apparently “don’t have the
personality” to “co” or partner with others, so I’m one of only two single
delegations… again. Let’s see how this goes.
That was an epic MUN reflection. I think I should do this
more often before I graduate.
