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Chico State

Model United Nations: Best Experience of My College Career

By Chelsey Korman, Senior, Journalism

The Model United Nations is extremely difficult to describe in only 250 words, but here is my attempt. When I first started taking the class, the officers raved about how close we would all become and what a great experience Model United Nations is. To be honest, it just sounded like a whole lot of work to me. Turns out they were telling the truth.

We spend most of our time together, laughing, telling jokes, making fun of each other—you know, typical things you do with your friends. Then there is the other part of the class, the more personal level where you study a chosen country for an entire semester. You come to the realization that you can have an entire conversation with someone about a certain country, its political views, its problems, and its standing in the international world.

It is at that moment during the conversation that you realize how much you have learned from one class and the fact that you gathered and interpreted all of that knowledge on your own. Nobody put the notes on the board, and nobody emailed a PowerPoint. Hours upon hours of web searching, finding the information, and turning it into a speech to prepare for the position that you defended in conference.

There’s no doubt that Model United Nations is a lot of work. It’s stressful and there were quite a few times when I thought “what on earth have I done taking this class?” But when you are standing in front of a room of 400 people speaking about human trafficking, dressed in a shield of confidence because you know exactly what you are talking about because you taught it to yourself, that’s when it’s all worth it.

Model United Nations gives you the opportunity to see where your talents and passions lie, whether it is international relations, politics, public speaking, or a combination of those skills. I can honestly say that Model UN has been the best experience of my college career, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world (no pun intended).