“Renewing and Reconstruction”

A perfect introduction to the world of MUN

 

这个金秋，10月15日、16日，青浦协和高中部MUN（Model United Nations 模拟联合国）选修课的成员们参加了为期两天的、在上海美国学校举行的模拟联合国大会。对一部分同学而言，这是首次参与正规的模拟联合国活动，是一个全新的开始。

A group of our students joined the two-day Shanghai American School Model United Nations Conference held at the Puxi campus of the Shanghai American School on Oct. 15th and 16th. It’s the perfect introduction to the world of MUN for some of our newer delegates.

 

 

在MUN，学生作为指定国家的代表，为该国的观点和政策发声。从中我们看到青少年学生的专业度和外交能力。在众多国际大会纷纷取消或延期的当下，在这场活动中，可以看到危机委员会到60人的集会中青少年所展现的风采。

In MUN, students can take the role of being a delegate to represent an assigned country and thus, as a delegate, speak for the country’s views and policies. Professionalism and diplomacy are expressed through mediums such as the language used throughout the conference and one’s attire. This year, SHAMUN was an in-person conference and it featured a wide range of committees from their unique crisis committee to a 60-people General Assembly, a rare and valuable opportunity as many prestigious international conferences is now cancelled or postponed.

 

 

青浦协和高中部12名成员，共参与到八个委员会。其中每个委员会致力于解决两大难题。本次活动主题为“更新与重建”。成员们需要打破“冷漠”、“自满”，从而寻找合适的方法来解决那些反复出现的全球危机。会场上，有来自世界各地不同文化背景的青少年，他们提前准备、合作商讨、优化修正、激烈辩论……

SHAMUN was a great success for SUIS Qingpu Campus High School MUN delegates. Our school took 12 delegates, and our students were spread across 8 committees with each committee trying to resolve 2 different topics. The conference theme “Renewing and Reconstruction” urged student delegates to break cycles of indifference and complacency by writing resolutions to tackling global issues that have been seemingly repetitive and perpetual. Walking through the committees, one would see our students having well prepared resolutions, collaborating to merge resolutions with other globally minded students from all over the world, raising points of information, submitting amendments, and participating in lively debate. Overall, the conference was well organized and a positive learning experience for all involved.

 

DELEGATES’

WORDS

Heather XU

SHAMUN was the first conference for all of us, and it was an unforgettable and impressive conference. During those 48 hours, we became more confident and articulate; we stepped out of the comfort zone; we were willing to get involved in the conference and there was a large improvement on our diplomatic negotiation skill.

With no doubts, we were all nervous, cautious, silent on the first day. For me, I even felt antsy when answering “present” when they called me, and only gave one point of view.

But the next day, after I totally understood the whole operation of this conference, I believe I became self assured and ready to represent the country of South Africa. When I received one new resolution, I learnt to check every clause carefully with a globally-minded outlook, asked the submitter questions, sent recipient to other countries and discussed.

The biggest achievement I gained was that one of my amendments had gotten approved, even due to the time limitation, I am unable to share my ideas. However, when I saw my amendment appear on the projection screen, I felt cheerful and reached a mile stone in my MUN life!

这是我们许多同学第一次参加模拟联合国，印象深刻令人难忘。虽然只有短短两天时间，但我能感受到自己在自信程度和语言表达上的进步。敢于走出舒适圈，和其他委员讨论，表达自己的观点⋯⋯

毫无疑问，第一天我和我的同学们都特别安静，甚至点名时，我都是紧张地喊出那个“到”字，大会过程中也只发了一次言。

到了第二天，我渐渐熟悉了模拟联合国的运作模式，鼓起勇气想要为自己代表的“国家”南非发声。当收到第一项决策后，我仔细查阅条款，用全球化的视野思考问题，提出质疑，并请提案者与其他“各国”再次讨论。

本次活动我最大的成功是，自己的一项修正案得到了认可。由于时间关系，虽然没能现场演讲，但当我看到自己的名字和修正案出现在大屏幕上时，心里感到特别激动，这是我在 MUN 旅程上的第一块里程碑！

 

 

Angela ZHOU

I’ve learnt a lot through this exciting experience of debating and understanding how the UN might work in reality. The simulation fascinates me, as I met many peers who are exceedingly talented at public speaking, and got a chance to explore a new school I’ve never been to. Even though I only had one chance to speak for both days, I didn’t feel as withdrawn and insecure, and I learnt a lot about public speaking and made many new friends. I will definitely attend the next MUN conference because I think I will be able to do much better next time.

大会上的辩论激烈又精彩，让我见识到联合国的运作模式。我看到许同龄人的优点，特别是公众演讲能力。同时，很高兴有机会参观其他学校。虽然，两天的活动中，我只有一次发言，但我并不感到置身事外，依然有强烈的参与感，也提高了自己的演讲水平、交到新朋友。今后，我一定还会参加 MUN 活动，相信自己一定会表现得更棒。

Oliver ZHOU

Throughout the competition, I knew the rules of the MUN. It’s really a sad story that our resolution didn’t pass. But I still had a wonderful time during the MUN, I hope to join the next one!

通过大会，我了解了模拟联合国的规则。虽然，我们的决策最后没有通过，我感到很伤心，但是我很享受整个活动过程，期待下一次的 MUN！

 

 

Abyss MAO

As the representative of France, I was afraid at first that I might take some light actions to lead to some strange results of the meeting, so I didn’t bravely propose the amendment, but just mentioned some simple point, which did not make much contribution to amendment. Secondly, the academic aspect needs to be strengthened. After all, this is the first time to attend the meeting. I don’t have much experience. In addition, I didn’t know the professional terms well before, which led to my speech very colloquial. But with the help of my partners, I am slowly solving and experiencing qualitative progress! Thank you again for bringing me everything!

作为法国的代表，我担心自己会对大会决策造成不好的结果，所以始终没有敢于提出修正案，只表达了一些简单的观点，因此我觉得接下来要加强学术方面的能力。不过这毕竟是第一次参与MUN，缺乏经验，许多专业术语也不熟悉，导致我的演讲听上去颇为口语化。不过在同伴们的帮助下，我渐渐有所进步，感谢伙伴们带给我的一切！