Throughout committee, many delegates find themselves buried in resolutions, speeches, and notes, and forget the main intent of a Model UN conference: to have fun! To help delegates cope with the possible stress of a MUN conference, we have composed a list of easily followed instructions to make each and every conference as enjoyable and rewarding as possible!
MAKE FRIENDS!
Opening ceremonies have just ended and you find yourself with some time between arriving at committee and committee actually starting. The best use of this intermission is to meet your fellow delegates and learn a little about them. Making friends in your committee will not only help during the debate, but you can also meet some pretty cool people. Find out which school the other delegates go to, discuss ideas for the committee, and try to find something to bond over or joke around a little. Developing a few friendships in committee can make the experience much more enjoyable; these friendships can even carry on to the outside of conference and can help with future networking.
LUNCH DOESN’T HAVE TO BE ANOTHER UNMOD!
Some delegates use lunch as an extension of unmod or time for negotiations. Though this time can be used for work, it is much more fun to talk to some friends you made in committee and joke around. Unless you are crunched for time, use lunch as a time to relax. No debate, no resolution drafting, just pizza! You won’t have many opportunities during committee to stop thinking and eat, so use this time to bond with your fellow delegates over something everyone loves: Food.
EXPLORE!
One of the best parts of conferences outside of committee is how different the atmosphere can be from what you’re used to. College conferences can help provide insight into the lives of college kids and is a refreshing change of pace from what you’re used to back at home. Many college conferences offer tours of the campus and surrounding areas; these are often very interesting and show you the school from a students’ perspective.
HIT THE DELEGATE DANCE!
If the conference is offering a delegate dance you should attend, even if you won’t be there the whole time. Delegate dances give you the opportunity to meet new people and establish stronger relationships with the people you already met. Not only do you get to network, but you also get to dance. Delegate dances provide you with a healthy amount of all different types of dance and give you a chance to relax after a long day of debate. Besides, what is a MUN conference without a few whips and dabs?
WHY DO I CARE?
If you truly want to make committee as a whole more enjoyable, find a reason why you care about the topic. If you care about the topic it becomes much easier to debate about and mean what you say. Debating about a topic you don’t care about for multiple days will make the experience unenjoyable; before you actually get into committee, find a reason to make the topic appeal to you to truly optimize your conference experience.
GIVE COMMITTEE YOUR ALL!
The final and most important step to getting the most out of a conference. You did all that research prior to the conference and you finally get a chance to demonstrate your knowledge! It would be a shame to put all that research to waste and not participate or have fun in committee, so give it your all and make it fun. At the end, delegates who are able to make the best out of their experience are the real award winners.
