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Model United Nations (MUN) is a privilege for students because they can practice finding solutions to some of the world’s problems. Several students enjoyed attending the SEOMUN conference in Seoul, Korea during the second week of December. Earlier this month, a group of 22 students attended the BEIMUN conference in Beijing. These students worked for weeks to complete and edit their resolutions. Writing resolutions is arduous because it involves students finding realistic solutions to certain issues, and carefully choosing their words, so that their resolution will not be denied by other delegates.
During the MUN conference, students debated on a wide array of issues for extended periods of time. Topics involved several areas that ranged from the Middle-East to outer space. Several topics included a wide scope of issues that encompassed the militarization of space missions and outer space, the proper disposal of spent nuclear fuel and the rights of migrant workers and laborers in the Middle-East. BEIMUN was a very compelling experience; the sense of competitiveness between delegates drove many students to opt their opinion, and play a part in amending and passing resolutions in their committee. This year, two delegates, Jason Huang and myself (Sohum Thadani), received recognition for being the best delegates of their committees. Jennifer Gilman, a BEIMUN delegate, also believed that the “use of formal language made the conference a great learning experience.” The fact that the MUN conference gifted students with a very life-like experience of an actual political conference was the most astounding factor of this event.
This year’s BEIMUN conference focused on the concept of growth and duality, which emphasized the importance of understanding new cultures, and avoiding the feeling to stereotype a person’s race or religion. This year, a substantial amount of schools from outside Southern-Asia attended the conference. There was a school from Nigeria, Mexico and Qatar. Amongst the vast variety of delegates in the conference, there was also a victim of racial abuse present at the event. Ahmed Mohamed was arrested on September 14, 2015 in Irving, Texas after his homemade clock was mistaken for a bomb. Mohamed, due to being Muslim, was instantly thought to have been carrying a bomb due to some racial stereotypes. Mohamed attended the BEIMUN conference, and was recognized for the bravery and calmness he showed all throughout the situation. Several of the delegates were able to empathize with Ahmed Mohamed and the struggle of being wrongly judged due to racial stereotypes.
Ahmed Mohamed and many other people constantly feel similar amounts of stress due to the oppression they face from racial stereotypes. As delegates of MUN, students have the responsibility to take active steps towards preventing this racial discrimination on any scale. Students may think that, due to their position, they do not have the ability to make these changes, but these factors do not matter because everyone can change the world for the better in their own way.
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