HNMUN Review Part 1: The Sweet

I started writing my review of the Harvard National Model United Nations Conference (HNMUN) and realized it was becoming one long 3,000 word article that no one would read in its entirety. So, I'm splitting it up into parts that I'll release over the next couple of days.

As far as my overall impression of the conference goes, let me just say that my competitive MUN career ended on a bittersweet note. I'll get into the bitter later, but first let me just say something about the sweet.

The defining feature of HNMUN is its size and international character. This year, over 3,000 delegates from 170 colleges and 30 countries attended the conference. The sizable number of delegates means I got to meet a lot of very interesting people. On top of that, I got to discuss issues about the world with people from all over the world. Delegations traveled all the way from China, Venezuela, the Netherlands, and—most impressively, and commendably—Iraq.

The most thrilling part of the conference is interacting with students from different countries and exciting backgrounds. I debated European politics with PhD students from the Netherlands; I learned a little Turkish from a Turk studying in New York; I met a 28-year old marine finishing his bachelor’s degree after serving in Korea and Iraq; I partied hard with a Russian, a Bulgarian, and a Greek (all of whom out-partied me, an American); and I still had time to see old friends from Orange County. I also made a lot of connections; I’m now Facebook friends with people I just met at the conference, and I’m going to meet some people at the Yale Club after I move to New York City this summer for my job.

The conference’s international flavor also makes for a lot of funny and vivid cultural experiences. When my team and I told a student from Beijing that we were from Yale, he exclaimed, “Yale? That school very much pretty good!” I always love the end of the Saturday night dance, when the music ends and the lights turn on, and a hundred delegates from Latin America, thronging in a circle, arms around one another, start singing “Ole!”

Professionalism also characterizes the conference. Handling all of those delegations from around the world, fitting them into two hotels, getting them to committee, and throwing a conference-sponsored party every night must be a logistical nightmare, yet the Secretariat handles it all very capably.

More than that, however, the conference actively projects a professional image. Ever since my first HNMUN freshman year, a Secretariat member walks into committee during the first session Thursday night to introduce himself. He also assures delegates of their dais staff’s competence and expertise on the rules of procedure and committee topics.

And from a business perspective, HNMUN is the most “corporate” conference that I have ever attended. In addition to T-Shirts and other souvenirs that are traditionally sold at major MUN conferences, HNMUN sells roses that you can purchase for the ladies on your team or that cute delegate you want to impress. It’s a small but innovative touch that I’m sure increases their bottom line; McKinsey would be impressed.

For me, the best part of the conference is hanging out with my team. On the way to dinner, 25 of us tried cramming into one elevator, and as we started chanting, “Very much pretty good! Very much pretty good!” the elevator shuddered to a halt. In addition to our lives, the next day’s headlines flashed before our eyes: “Yale students killed at Harvard conference trying to ride elevator...Ivy League students not smart after all...” We quickly got off on the next floor and swore to no longer make fun of other people’s Engrish.

Stuck in an elevator and about to die

On a sentimental note, I got nostalgic teaching some of my teammates some of what I had learned these past four years on the team, and not just about MUN. At my first college conference, someone had to teach me how to shave. My dad uses an electric razor, so that's all I knew how to use, and I had forgotten mine. I cut myself that first time, but to this day I use a manual razor. At this conference, one of my roommates, a freshman, learned how to tie a tie. I showed another freshman roommate how to iron his clothes. They may not have done it right the first time, but they'll learn as I did, and maybe they'll pass it on, too. I reflect on this, after four years of college and eight years of MUN, and I think: only at the end do we return to the beginning.

If I'm describing the sweetest parts of the conference, these memories are so corny as to be sugary sweet (haha--corn, sugar--get it?). Honestly, though, these will probably be the most enduring memories I'll have of my time on the Yale MUN team.

A freshman learns how to tie a tie

And in addition to the stupid and the touching moments I've had with the team, most of them are just really funny. Before closing ceremonies, a few teammates went ahead of the rest to reserve two rows of seats. When challenged by another delegate who wanted to take our seats for his delegation, my Australian teammate rolled up his sleeves, got down on the floor, and issued his own challenge: “I’ll ahhm wrestle you for ‘em, mate!”

The other delegate walked away. Now that's diplomacy.

The Yale MUN team, and some of my best friends in college

Next post: The Bitter