I was in a crisis committee and running out of ideas on how to move forward. Then, I remembered the notes I had from my mentoring session back in the summer. I smirked to myself, knowing that I was the only delegate in the room with “a secret weapon”, and knew instantly how to proceed. When I won an award the next day at closing ceremonies, I knew that I owed a part of it to my Best Delegate Mentor.
Starting my Model UN club, and getting started in MUN in general, was a very overwhelming process. When I was trying to found a MUN club at my school I was just learning the basics about Model UN. Having attended only one MUNI program and a couple of conferences, I was wondering how in the world I was going to be able to train twenty kids and an advisor who had never heard about this activity. Pressure from my school’s administration to do well at conferences and my own will to have my new club succeed prompted me to do some research on how to get help with training my team.
I immediately chose to browse the web for resources. As I was exploring different sites, I came across Best Delegate’s mentoring program. This program offers private mentoring via Skype and in person. I proposed this to my advisor and my principal, and together we concluded that this would be a valuable investment for the model UN club.
Our first encounter with our mentor occurred when she flew in for a two-day workshop for all new delegates. Over the remainder of the school year, she skyped into our meetings multiple times and reviewed each delegate’s position papers one-on-one. Additionally, I met virtually with her to help prepare for conferences that I attended outside of school and for advice on moving forward with our club. Overall, having a Best Delegate exclusive mentor was a priceless experience. Since starting, I have gone on to win multiple awards, and my team has gone from over twenty inexperienced delegates to formidable competition at conferences such as NHSMUN.
Our current mentor, Katrina Stevenson, says, “The best part about being a mentor is the ability to share my experience, advice, and passion for those skills.” Katrina has done MUN for nine years (Since her freshman year of high school), and now gets to share her immense knowledge with both middle and high school students. She further explains that the people doing mentoring sessions are genuinely passionate about model UN. During my mentoring meetings, I have sensed this passion when my mentors get incredibly enthusiastic about my committee. I can tell that they are sincerely enjoying their time with me. This excitement really rubs off on me and motivates me to do my research and try to win at conferences.
The experience of participating on the receiving end of a Best Delegate Mentorship has inspired me. I am sure that when I go on to college I will want to be one as well. I can’t wait to have the experience of helping beginners like I was, who are a bit clueless about the MUN world, both as a delegate and in training an inexperienced team. Having a mentor to guide me through that grueling process was something that I will always appreciate. Every MUN delegate needs a secret weapon; nothing can compete with a Best Delegate Mentor!
To learn more about MUN workshops, check us out at https://bestdelegate.com/workshops-2/.
