NMUN Reflection Paper

Lu Argueta

IRP 471- Model United Nations

05/05/2011 NMUN Reflection Paper

“Every day, in field operations around the world, men and women serve under the flag of the United Nations, to build and maintain peace, to relieve human suffering, and to promote human rights.” If you walk towards the Chagall Stained Glass at the United

Nations Headquarters in New York City, you will notice a torn United Nations flag hung from a wall to your right. Underneath the flag, the words reading “Fallen In the Cause of

Peace” and the caption above reminded me the reason why I chose to become proactive in MUN and most importantly, why I chose International Relations as my major when I enrolled at Syracuse.

Being an International Relations major was a journey that started off like any other; unaware of the experiences, yet excited to become successful in something I had a strong interest for. But for three and a half years of my undergraduate career, almost nothing triggered the spark I felt when I decided to choose my major. MUN had started my love for international diplomacy and negotiating, but it was probably meeting new people and collaborating with them that probably struck a passion for doing MUN.

This year, I was chosen to become one of the students in the SU delegation representing the Republic of Kazakhstan at the NMUN 2011 Conference, taking place for a week in New York City. Though excited and nervous, my journey through NMUN can be described as uncertain and spontaneous. For much of the time I spent researching, practicing and learning about Kazakhstan, the rules of procedure, the specifics of our committees, etc., I sometimes lacked the drive in our weekly classes to become passionate about this experience. To me, NMUN was not going to be much different as Lu Argueta

05/05/2011 any other of IR experiences on campus. Little did I know it would turn out to be the opposite.

It was a challenge to do MUN as a senior. Because it happened in my last semester of my undergraduate career, I was more concerned about missing out in

Syracuse than creating new memories in NYC. Our training and researching duties were long and difficult. There was much information to be compiled, statistics to be learned, names to be memorized, and issues to be debated. I remember thinking the information was endless and struggling with organizing it, or even debating if I could learn all of it.

This was certainly not the way we had done it in high school. But what I learned as we got closer to the date of the conference was that the National Model United Nations was far different from any other high school experience.

It really surprised me how the conference was entirely different than what I had expected. The very first day, in our committee, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

Review Committee, delegates immediately spurred into discussing the agenda, began forming alliances and really advocated to speak their country’s stand on the various issues we had to discuss. The feeling was overwhelming; I didn’t think I was prepared for the conference at all. But talking to my committee partner, Glenda Nunez, gave me some comfort. “It’s either sink or swim,” she said to me. And without over thinking it, I jumped into a pool of chattery delegates only to get asked two seconds later what

Kazakhstan’s agenda for the Committee was. We were swimming for the rest of the conference, with an adrenaline rush attached as a bonus for the next couple of days. Lu Argueta

05/05/2011 The delegates were a lot more professional and the experience was much more accurate to how the actual UN works. The days were long and exhausting, but building friendships at the same time we were trying to build resolutions was comforting. The bloc Glenda and I worked with was mostly Central Asian nations: Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan were our closest allies yet; we called ourselves “the Trifecta.” Equatorial Guinea, Azerbaijan,

Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan remained close to us throughout the process of amendments and voting. Our Working Paper, drafting and emphasizing on the significance of collaborative, multilateral work on the transportation of nuclear materials, and the creation of an International Summit for the denuclearization of Nuclear Weapons

States, was one of the most cohesive and neutral works in the committee. At this point in the conference, I remember thinking to myself how thrilled I was to actually be a part of something that has the potential to improve today’s living conditions around the world.

Although our working paper didn’t make it to the final resolution due to time logistics, it was still encouraging to work with many other delegates from all over the world, with different cultures, languages and experiences. I thought to myself, “so, this is what the

UN really must look like.”

Looking back at this experience, I understand that International Relations holds a place dearly to my heart. It was incredibly refreshing to put into practice what we have learned in theory, to work closely with other SU students in my same major and to form closer ties to a faculty member, Dr. D’Amico- neither of which had taken effect in my four years at this university. Lu Argueta

05/05/2011 The challenges I encountered through this course were gratifying to overcome. Writing the position papers was not easy as a couple, especially when there was so much information to be included. Learning the terminology and rules of the conference was confusing and a little excruciating. Dealing with our Chair and Dais at the conference was enough to realize we were being treated unfairly. But I can proudly say, there is nothing that I would change, because I can take it all as a learning experience and realize that this type of work is what I want to be doing for the rest of my life.

The accomplishments of this course far outweighed the challenges. I acquired and expanded team-building skills, improved my public speaking, found out about many future opportunities in the UN field, and developed new friendships that I hope will last a lifetime. NMUN is obviously just a simulation of how the real United Nations works.

I’m sure someone would have hesitated to leave the world’s future in the hands of 20- something year olds who were just desperate for the conferences to end soon enough to go to the delegate dance. But, just as Ronnie Heintze, our Secretary-General, said it in his final address at the closing ceremony; we have the power as young scholars to “help the world through the many accomplishments created at the conference”. You wouldn’t think of it, but there are probably a select few that day at the UN’s General Assembly who are going to eventually work under the flag of the United Nations and work their best to achieve peace, security and human rights worldwide. I sure do hope I’m one of them.

Otherwise, I really have no clue how I’m supposed to discover what my passion really is.