The delegation of Bulgaria raises a motion. Debora holds up her place card confidently. The delegate in the blue blazer sits comfortably in her committee session, chatting with her neighbour or passing notes.
Only a day before, the psychology student did not know what any of the terms “open caucus” or “motion” truly meant. Like many others, elbMUN is her first MUN at all. She coincidentally stumbled across the conference, while reading her student representative council’s emails. Being interested in politics and debating, she was immediately hooked and signed up. Her goal for the weekend? To have fun and enjoy. “Even though this might be a little weird, but yes, for me this is freetime”, the 21-years-old says. Having participated in a Model European Parliament during high school, she at least had a slight idea what would lay ahead of her. “I am actually surprised how informal this is”, she says. Especially clothing rules she would have expected to be enforced more strictly. With slight knowledge from the handbook and no fear of public speaking, Debora has embarked on the MUN ride. In her committee, she held the first opening speech. “I had no time to think about it or to be afraid”, she says.
Her advice for first-timers is to just ask all the questions they have in mind. For instance, she first asked whether people could be added to the speakers list or if it would be final. “I would have probably known the answer if I had read the study guide properly”, she says.
So far, she describes the atmosphere at elbMUN as pretty open-minded and slightly competitive - with prolonged discussions during coffee breaks. Then they openly laugh about all the subtle slander being passed on the notes. Just walking up to people and sliding into their talking circle has worked out for her so far. Full success in having fun and enjoying.
Anna Abraham
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