This weekend’s Model UN Crisis Simulation drastically exceeded my expectations. Quite honestly, I heard “seven hours on Sunday,” and thought it would be Hell. Even though we had been prepped for what we would be doing, and that we were well versed on issues related to India, I was unclear about what we would be doing, and how we would be able to last seven hours. I was even shocked when I heard myself say, “this is fun!”
The highlight of the crisis simulation for me, was when at 8 o’clock on Sunday evening, there had still been no news from India up on the website, and we began to get frustrated. So we devised a plan for total world domination, complete with robotic titanium cats, focused solely on taking over the world. We were all set to go with our plan, when Sunday’s simulation was over. By Monday, however, our news reports began to go public, so we (probably wisely) decided against unleashing the robotic cats, but kept them on the back burner, just in case.
The low point of the crisis simulation was probably just how long it took our group specifically to get our news and action reports published. We went five hours on Sunday without having anything published, which made parts of the simulation boring. We had many great ideas, which made it frustrating when nothing would be published, so we wouldn’t have anything to do or any countries to work with.
I think that the reason that I enjoyed the simulation so much is that I was able to take the lofty, sometimes overreaching concepts that we’ve discussed in IR, and apply them to (somewhat) real-life situations. I found myself at times thinking of the repercussions of things we were discussing and how they would play out in different temperaments and with different countries. I understood concepts more clearly, and saw how large a role the media and press play on the way in which stories are reported.
Another great part of the simulation for me was that I was selected to be the delegate that met with other countries when we would meet together. It was fun to try to be a good will ambassador for my country, while still trying to solve complex issues. I was so excited when the selected me Best Delegate, and I would imagine it would be because I was always willing to meet with the other countries’ delegates. I loved doing it; it was a rush!
Overall, I had a very positive experience in the crisis simulation, and would definitely be interested in working on it in the future. I think that it would be interesting to do various countries throughout the world, as opposed to one distinct region. I think that would make the simulation more realistic, as each country would have to consider the international repercussions, no matter how small, in taking specific actions.
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