This is a guest article from Ahmad Reza Mardian, a senior Nursing students from Universitas Indonesia, who snatched the Best Delegate award, representing USA in WHO at Indonesia Model United Nations 2013,
Indonesia International Model United Nations (IMUN) 2013 has become a witness that diplomacy is really for everyone. As a nursing student, I finally am able to snatch the “Best Delegate” award in WHO council competing among other 64 delegates. I represent United States of America in IndonesiaMUN 2013, specifically in my dream council, WHO. We talk about the stem cell technology and how it affects humanity in the future. I truly believe that this award sends a message to MUN community that diplomacy is really for everyone, even for a nursing student.
Ahmad Reza Mardian (left) as delegate of USA for WHO at IMUN 2013
In the conference I stood on the idea where stem cell research should be supported by using the existing guidelines and enforcing the guidelines to be implemented. IndonesiaMUN 2013 is my hardest MUN so far. The debate was intense, the substance was rich, and the delegates were definitely ambitious. However, within the spirit of diplomacy, I should stand on behalf people of USA and international community. To this extent, I managed to build and maintain my alliance and lost with the opposing blocks by only 3 votes.
Against all the drama and the hot debate, I finally can prove that a nursing student can shine too. This means everything. A lot of nursing student in my university (or even maybe in my country) are too shy to speak or to participate a conference, such as MUN. But that’s exactly the wrong paradigm. The rights to speak have been accommodated in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Everybody has the right to speak on behalf of their countries. Everybody has the right to be involved in diplomacy because diplomacy is for everyone. Be it nursing student, political science, or mathematics, we are allowed to have a dream being diplomat, and what is the best way to realize those dreams by practically doing it now in MUN?
Delegates of WHO: Diplomacy is for everyone, isn’t it?
Being diplomat is not only about talking, yet it’s also about knowing what we stand for and why we even talk in the very first place. Strong justifications are needed. I have always imagined whom I represent every time in speak in the podium in MUN: 1) people in the country I’m representing, 2) everyone who think they can’t speak in this podium. Open your eyes, you can.
