Is MUN becoming old? Written by Miray AYYILDIZ

Is MUN becoming old?
Have you noticed that even though the history of MUN goes back a long way, to the 1940s when St. Lawrence University held the very first conference, the whole explosion of MUN and the dissemination of the idea of initiating conferences have taken place in the last decade? Our realization of what MUN means does not go that far in history, but how we’ve put out heart and soul into it since the day we learned about it is worth an applause.

In the beginning, it was an exciting simulation to try out, just to see what we can do while still being able to enjoy our time and interact with people at the same time. Then, the realization of how being in the position to make decisions and assert our own opinions makes us feel important and strong hit us. We saw it as a chance to talk about world problems that genuinely interest us but would make us look boring while discussing in our daily lives. It was all we could ask for, but just like it happens to anything we love, the fresh feeling started to slowly fade away as the trend started to spread through the whole country and the number of conferences that were held began to scale up.

We, as optimists, though it would increase the number of opportunities to gain experiences, and it honestly did, but then it came to a point where new announcements for conferences started to pop up almost weekly. It was like bullets flying towards us. This situation, unfortunately, caused -without meaning to offend anyone- the aimed quality of conferences to drop, and the high quantity made it difficult to come up with original topic ideas.

General Assembly committees were the first ones to be bored of, since the memorized speeches and phrases can be a little overwhelming after some time, and although Security Council included fresher topics and a more interesting procedure, we all needed some changes and improvements in the MUN world. Then the special committees were thrown out for consideration, which still continues to be the hook that catches participants. Personally, I believe that adding special committees on various types of movies, books or historical events was the right step to get MUN over the obstacle. It helped us catch the excitement, enthusiasm, and motivation back again and pushed us to get back to applying for conferences. That’s what happened to me at least.

Afterward, the big revolution happened. Conferences where the official language was determined as Turkish started to be held. Amazing, right? All those students who were afraid to speak up just because they considered themselves not good at speaking English finally had a chance to express their opinions. The ultimate aim of Model United Nations, which is making students feel comfortable while talking about serious topics and letting them brainstorm, was fully accomplished, or was it?

Just like any other organization, MUN will always be in need of new improvements and fresh ideas coming from the youth. All these developments indicate what has not yet been achieved and how it is going to be bigger than ever. The rules or procedures of Model United Nations might get old after some time, but the ideology that it carries and its meaning for all those young minds will never fade away. We are given a half-painted canvas and the blank part is waiting for us to get creative.

Miray AYYILDIZ

The Writer of MUNTurkey.com

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