My first interaction with a MUN was during my A-levels and I remember being completely mesmerized with the ongoing work of the host team. Everything seemed glamorous and exclusive and I immediately knew I wanted to be a part of it. Hence, when I started by Bachelors in FCC, where MUN hadn’t really thrived as of yet, I knew what I had to do. It took a while to get the previous council to accept this random new freshman into their club but after a few meetings and haggard texts/emails, they warmed up to me and the adventure truly began. My interest in a MUN was not for the sake of being a delegate but the allure of the management or ‘behind the curtains’ work of the event. I always saw the work that a team did to carry out a huge event inspiring and knew that, that was my calling.
Organizing a MUN: It’s all about the team work ..
So the work began and a team of utter misfits was formed: most seniors, some juniors and two freshmen; everyone with a different mindset and varied ideas. The meetings and the constant ruckus that went with forming plans was an absolute pain. We had fights, disagreements and a lot of ‘eye-roll’ worthy judgments for the work being done. Even coming up with the theme of the event took such a long time that by the end of it everyone was exasperated and completely out of creative inputs. But through all that, through all the Skype calls, the late night group work, after class meetings and being glued to our laptops; the end product was completely worth it. I remember that a point came where my parents practically disowned me with the amount of time and energy I was investing into the event and as a product ignoring everything else around me. Be it family get togethers or even a dinner, I was either on a phone call or if I ever managed to have a conversation, the word MUN or something related to that always popped up. My mother would say:
‘ Bas kardo yeh MUN SHUN karna. Shakal dekho apni. Kya haal ho gaya hai tumhara.’
And I’d be telling her that it’s all going to make sense and that all the effort will pay off. And it did. When the day of the event came by and my family got to see what my team had created, where the ideas that a bunch of sleep deprived group had come up with in back to back meetings, took shape and gelled together, it validated every sweat and tear that went with the work.
If you manage to form a team that acts as a well oiled machine, that comes together through all the arguments and is there to help you whether it is to get 300 tags printed in a day or any other crises that comes your way, then you truly have hit a jackpot. The success of an event or anything really is only due to team work and while everything seems impossible in the beginning and you feel ready to quit or to kill one another, if you do stick around and you do compromise and work together; you can pull off a great event that will be revered for years to come.
