#y13term1

[creativityactionservice-blog1]

Model United Nations

YEAR 13, TERM 1

MUN has been pretty hectic this term. It has mostly focused on preparing for THIMUN, and we took turns chairing. It was enriching to see other chairs in action - critiquing other people is a good way to improve your own method in this field.

Due to an injury (I fell down the stairs and broke my foot) I haven’t been able to attend MUN for about a month, because I could not get there. I prepared for the conference at home instead, which worked just fine, but I don’t think that I got the same out of it as I would’ve if I had been able to go.

I’m helping to plan the sessions for the next few weeks leading up to the holidays, where I will (probably) chair our sessions. I learn something new, about people and about our delegates in particular, every time I chair. It’s a massively rewarding experience and I look forward to continuing in term 2.

[creativityactionservice-blog1]

The Borneo Project

YEAR 13, TERM 1

The Borneo Project has been a really interesting thing for me to do. I’d wanted to join it last year but hadn’t been able to, on account of already having too many activities. The idea with the Borneo Project is to raise money and then to go to poorer villages in Sabah (a short flight from JIS) and help out. The money raised buys books for local children (in their own native language) and building materials - last year students built a kindergarten where children could go to school.

I don’t plan to go on the trip at the end of the year, because it is in June and I will have left Brunei by then. I do help out with the fundraisers we do at school. Our school is 1,700 students so there is a lot of money to go around. We split up into groups to work on different things, and I help sell drinks at House sports events, which are usually every week.

I didn’t sign up for a leadership role, because I wanted to do fewer activities this year and really focus on my upcoming IB exams. I did a lot of stuff after-school last year, and I wanted to spend more time on work for Year 13. 

This has really helped me develop my Malay language skills. Because JIS is an international school Malay language classes are not stipulated and most foreign students don’t speak it at all. I lived in Indonesia previously and was required to learn Bahasa Indonesia, which is very similar to Bahasa Melayu, so I did speak some Malay already. However, as part of the preparation for going to Sabah and helping out the local students have been doing a quick Malay class in each Borneo Project session to teach us some basic terms. Speaking another language is a useful skill and it was a good one to brush up on.

[creativityactionservice-blog1]

The Hague International Model United Nations Conference

16 - 20 NOVEMBER 2015 - YEAR 13 TERM 1

THIMUN Singapore was a really great conference. Although I didn’t chair, it was still the most challenging one I’ve been to and it had the highest caliber of debate I’ve ever experienced.

This made it interesting to be a part of, as the standard had suddenly been raised, and it does take some adjustment to go from Russia in our MUN activity of 40 people to the Central African Republic in a group of 130. It was very competitive, so everyone had to fight to be heard - it wasn’t easy. It was especially difficult to represent the CAR, because it is a relatively small country and a lot of people weren’t remotely interested in what I had to say - not in the bad way, just diplomatically speaking. Most people had never even heard of the CAR before (myself included).

I found out that the best way to go was to relate to fellow LEDC countries - poorer countries - and sort of ally myself with them, like Lesotho. I helped to write a resolution on the issue of financial services for human development, and I contributed with a few clauses. I got up and made a speech, and I was unusually nervous. Speaking at our school MUN, and even at THAIMUN and BGIC, didn’t prepare me for this. I just wasn’t used to it. 

I was really nervous but I tried to keep calm and give the speech. It went well, I think, and I received a ton of notes afterwards from people telling me I’d won them over, which was flattering - but when it came to the questions I really had to think on my feet. I was being quizzed on the ins and outs of corporate economics (not my strong point) and it was new to have to try and talk myself out of them. It was a useful skill to develop, I think, and all around the conference was very rewarding.