My experience with MUNs started even before YEL was created. It was in 2014 when my friend Lucia (also a member of the club) asked me if I wanted to go on a trip to Prague. Yes, it all started as a trip. Neither of us knew what PORGMUN was or what we would do there. It was later when we found out MUNs are an unforgettable experience and once you try it you have to keep going. That was our first MUN. We started off with a country completely different to our home – Saudi Arabia. Maybe it was the fact we had to defend an opinion that didn’t match with our own that excited us.
After PORGMUN I was thrilled to see what kind of conference my own school would organize and so I participated in ZAMUN 2015 for the very first time, for now only as a delegate of Japan. It was here in a familiar environment that I gained more confidence as a delegate.
That was the year I decided MUNs would become my new hobby and went straight to another one, this time BRATMUN 2015 representing Iraq. It was also the year YEL club was finally created and I didn’t hesitate a second to join. I learnt even more about argumentation and could finally share my thoughts and ideas with people of my age.
With the creation of the club came an amazing opportunity to spend 2 months on an exchange. I really wanted to use this possibility so I applied for Finland. After a short audition, I was off to Helsinki and from there to Jyväskylä where our partner school is situated. This exchange has been so far the best experience I could get. I didn’t only get to know another country and culture but I got to know myself as well. I learnt how to be more responsible for my own self. I have also seen how the Finnish YEL club works so I could make a suggestion what to improve in theirs and take the good ideas to improve our club in Slovakia.
When my sweet 2 months ended it was about time for ZAMUN 2016. This time I participated a bit more behind the scenes as an underchair. I certainly got a bigger idea about how the conference is actually organized.
In June 2016 I volunteered to be the director for Slovak YEL club’s video where we summed up everything we did in the school year 2015-2016. I learnt a lot more about time management and found out being a director isn’t as easy as it might seem. I realized my own weaknesses as a leader which helped me to improve myself and it was amazing to watch the whole team work together towards one goal.
Finally, in 2017 I participated as a co-chair of the UNHRC committee in ZAMUN 2017 along with Lucia with whom it all started. Chairing a committee together was our ultimate goal so let’s hope my journey with MUNs will not end here.
Overall, YEL is an amazing place to meet new people your age, listen to their opinions on various problematic and share your own. YEL is a place where you’ll learn new things in a fun way however the skills you’ll learn will certainly come to good use as they are practical. It is always good to share your mind but it is even better to know how to do it politely and in a way, everyone will understand. It was here where I learnt how to formulate my arguments and how to (even if the debate does not go the way I want it to) keep my calm and polite face. In this case are teachers only the supervisors as YEL is more of a place to share our own ideas in-between ourselves, therefore, it’s just as much fun as it’s useful. Working on these projects is all about teamwork and there is nothing that brings a team together more than fun. That’s why even if we don’t see each other in school; we meet elsewhere to get to know ourselves even outside of the working environment.
