How to Choose a Committee by Ayşe İnci DAL

How to Choose a Committee by Ayşe İnci DAL. Your committee can make your conference the best experience or the worst. How do I know this? Because I experienced this situation I wrote a committee randomly to application form it was my biggest mistake of MUN life. I can’t say it didn’t affect me in a positive way but I didn’t have fun and I was really happy while closing ceremony because the conference was over. I can’t allow my valuable readers to do the same mistake again.

1) Know the things that you don’t like

Yes, I say to know the things that you don’t like instead of your interests. Your conference cannot establish a committee according to each interest. I am really interested in yoga but I’ve never seen a committee about yoga or meditation. I am saying that if you are not interested in history, you shouldn’t choose a historical committee or if you are changing the channel of the TV during the period of economic news, do not choose ECOFIN. It is that simple.

2) What do you want from your conference?

You may be tired while you’re discussing serious topics from your previous conferences. If it is, you may prefer fantasy committees or you may learn the mechanisms of local security organizations you can choose NATO or OSCE. If you are bored from GA committees you can choose special committees like UN Security Council.

3) How much you can study for your agenda item?

We are MUNers, we love MUNing but MUN isn’t our responsibility. In the forthcoming months, I will participate in a conference too and I decided to choose SOCHUM instead of NATO. Nowadays I have really important exams that I need to pass so I haven’t got time to study too much for the conference. I know SOCHUM’s agenda item better than NATO’s. If the conference was on the summer holiday, I’d choose NATO exactly. Sometimes you need to make logical decisions instead of emotional decisions.

4)Research your committee

I know, all of you read the description of each committee on the conference’s website but unfortunately, this is not enough. You should make an extra research to take the best decision for you.  Learn the committee’s proficiency. Be sure inexperienced delegates are not different from others as well I have an interview with an awarded first timer but some committees need MUN experience to represent the country most effective way. Scan the agenda items of the committees. Research procedures of committees; some committees procedures are different from others, for example, OSCE’s final document may be decision paper. It has specific differences from Resolution Paper. Nobody cares about how many countries are they represented in the committee. If you want to be more active in the committee you can choose fewer membered committees but if you don’t know too much about MUN procedure and want to learn it more membered committees will be more instructive.

My special advice:

I have some special advises that I have taken from my previous MUNs. Have a favourite committee: choose your favourite committee all the time. If you implement this, you will be more informed from other delegates and you will have more chance to get the best delegate award. Maybe one day, you may be the chairperson for the committees. In my opinion, committees that have lower capacity then the others are better than the higher one because I feel more active and we may become a family with other delegates so it makes me comfortable. MUN is a serious work but having fun is important as resolutions. I hope you will participate in a committee that you will have fun. I believe that after reading my article you won’t do the mistakes that I did.

Ayşe İnci DAL

The Writer of MUNTurkey.com

ayseinci.dal@munturkey.com