Top 6 reasons to do SLMUN before College
View(s):It takes more than good grades and strong test scores to get into competitive colleges. School students today have to stand out by excelling in their extracurricular activities. Many do this through sports, science, or the arts, but others join activities such as speech and debate, mock trial, and Model United Nations. While not everyone who does SLMUN makes it their main activity, many invest a considerable amount of their time and energy into it. Model United Nations is a large part of their personal growth as a school student, and they can leverage their SLMUN experience to get into college. Model United Nations can be a vehicle for personal growth. Here are just a few reasons why you should consider including SLMUN in your school experience:
1. Negotiation and collaboration skills: Like in school, many classes in college require group projects and assignments. Just like organising a group chat or a breakfast meeting, proactiveness and attention to detail are required when organising your group project and making sure everyone is doing their part of the work. Collaboration skills will become very important when you are meeting with your group to discuss your visions for the project.
2. Public speaking confidence: Something that many people do not often tell you is that clubs and organisations in college can be extremely difficult to get into. Whether it be a private or public school, the competition can be intense and some clubs require multiple rounds of interviews and applications to be considered for a spot in the club. The public speaking skills required to participate in Model UN can help immensely in the interview process for any club, or internship.
3. Seeing all sides of an issue: You’ll be doing a lot of writing in college, and the critical thinking skills you practiced from creating new, innovative solutions or crisis arcs will come in handy here. Perhaps it’s a creative writing class, or it’s a political science class on post-Soviet conflicts in Eastern Europe. Being able to critically analyse the issues you learn about, and challenge existing educational structures in the assignments you turn in, is integral to success in your classes. Model UN teaches us to see all sides of an issue, which becomes super helpful when classes ask us to interpret essay prompts in a creative light. Even if you are planning on an Engineering major, this can help you in your general education classes or even with science and math projects, since you will still have to think outside the box.
4. Quick research and writing: Sometimes, it feels like professors are purposefully coordinating all their assignments to be due at once. When you have three papers to turn in in the span of two days, those quick research and writing skills from SLMUN will definitely come in handy. First off, you may already even have some background knowledge on some of the topics you’ll be writing about in your essays because you’ve debated them in committee. Secondly, you’ll know how to find the best sources from all those position papers you had to write and quickly cite. Lastly, you’ll be able to speed-write from all those times you’ve had to crank out a detailed resolution clause, or a directive, minutes before the turn-in deadline for them.
5. Interpersonal skills: The more committees you compete in, the more friends you will meet and the more connections you will establish. Model UN teaches valuable interpersonal skills that will become very helpful in college. Not only will you be able to branch out and make new friends quickly, but these interpersonal skills will give you a leg up in professional settings. Colleges often host networking nights, where you will speak with many job recruiters and meet people with the same career interests as you. The setup of these events often resemble SLMUN committees, so you will feel right home as you walk through and introduce yourself to everyone.
6. Advancing to College Model UN: And, of course, if you wish to continue pursuing Model UN in college, having the experience from your school days can help you get into your college MUN club. Model United Nations in college is definitely more competitive than in school. However, it is also way more fun because you get to travel more with some of your best friends and get to know other schools’ teams more. Having done school SLMUN, you’ll already know the foundations of competing and staffing, and will be able to quickly learn from more senior members of your team.
From getting a dream internship, to feeling comfortable in a new environment, to making a class presentation to an audience of 120, Sri Lanka Model United Nations will definitely help navigate the challenges you may face in college. Writing the perfect college essay will be the first step in a long journey of utilizing Model UN skills in your everyday life. I firmly believe that this activity is valuable in the long run, no matter whether or not you decide to pursue MUN in college. - Shabnam Mohamed