Why Model U.N.?
It helps you learn how to speak...it's a resume builder...you learn to think on your feet...it's fun...it's different...it helps you get into college...you learn more about the world that you ever thought you knew...you can win awards...you can finally answer the question "what does the U.N. actually do?"...
Over the past thirty two years I've heard all these reason students should participate in model United Nations programs, but of the reasons listed above, which are actually valid? All of them. The bottom line is that whatever your reason for participating in model United Nations, you are going to learn-about the U.N., the world, what you think, what others think, how you behave, how nations behave, how other students behave, and you may just come out of the whole process with a better appreciation of how to handle all different kinds of people, and how to solve problems you didn't think could be solved. You are certainly doing something unique, especially when you attend a model UN conference and have to deal with students you never met before. In most situations where students from different schools interact, you are in a safety zone-its you and your team vs. "them." In model U.N. you can be a s competitive as you like, but the key to success is cooperation-however you look at it, you have to deal with other students from other schools to get things done.
This means you are doing what adults have to do to be successful. Given the fact that far fewer students are involved with model U.N. than just about every other sport or major extracurricular activity at school, you are emerging from your model UN experience with skills and experience the vast majority of students simply do not have. There so many great ways participation in model UN can inspire, especially when it comes to developing creative solutions to difficult problems the world faces today. But because what you are doing is unique, you will find yourself coveted by people who understand the value of the skills you've developed and how you've applied them. Twenty years ago, this pool of people was fairly small. No longer. The simple fact that you can speak in public makes you someone in high demand in every aspect of life.
All that is down the road. For the present, if you dive right in to model U.N., you are going to have fun. The pages in your section will help you get the most out of the experience.