MUN-believable time at Delhi HMUN

HMUN – The Delhi NCR chapter

Every year, Woodstock participates in at least two Model United Nations (MUN) conferences. HMUN India, which is organized by Harvard University, is the first MUN of this academic year and it was the Delhi NCR chapter, 1 of 2 held across India. Some of you might be wondering: what happens at an MUN event? Keep reading to find out!

MUN calls for students and individuals who are interested in making a difference and are passionate about finding solutions to global issues. This happens under different model UN bodies such as the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), and other committees which are replicated during an event. Students represent countries and, when participating in a conference, must think and act from the perspective of the representative of that country.

For example: let’s say you are the delegate of Sweden and, during a session, get involved in a heated debate with China and the USA. It is your responsibility to remain neutral despite your own personal opinions on the matter. This can be challenging because as Anish from Class of 2026 mentioned,he learnt about how governments all around the world worked and gained a better understanding of different political structures and their ideologies, which is time-consuming and at times can impair you from participating because of lack of knowledge on that matter.

This HMUN lasted for four days. Here’s our diary of events for the conference:

Day 1:

Bright and early at 4am, we wearily walked down to assemble at Ridgewood. All of us were sleep deprived yet our actions were filled with excitement both for HMUN and good food! Although we were on the road by 5am, we reached the venue just in time for the opening ceremony that same afternoon. The drive was long but we slept for most of it and only woke for a quick McDonald’s trip. Whilst most of the delegates were in their formals, some of us were still in pajamas – nothing like making a fashionable entrance!

The opening ceremony is always entertaining because the MC is usually energetic. After the ceremony, we rushed to our hotel rooms, got dressed for the first committee session and ran to get our meal orders which we devoured in record time as we were already very late!.

From what I saw everyone was a bit disoriented during the first committee session; we were tired from travel and for many it was their first time – like Anish mentioned, it can take “two sessions to get the hang of it” and each session is like a stepping stone towards being confident in your role. After the session we had dinner and got to meet many students from all over India and talk about our experience past and present.

One major positive about MUN is that you make lasting memories and friendships in the matter of days; like the experience of Sonak from Class of 2027, who mentioned “my biggest takeaway was to keep in touch with the friends I made there because they were genuine”.

Day 2:

After breakfast at 8.30am, we headed for the next committee by 9am. The day was packed – we had two committee sessions back to back with a one hour lunch break in the middle.

Later in the day, we had a leadership forum which was mandatory to attend if we wanted to go to the socials (bribery!). Today was the ‘HMUN India Got Talent’ which was a way for the delegates and the directors to showcase their ‘talents’. While some of us attended the forum to go to the ‘HMUN Got Talent’, others stayed in our rooms to catch up on the work we missed.

After the talent show had ended, we all got together at 10pm and ordered food. As Anish revealed to us, an important skill is to learn “how to pick good restaurants to order from” which, in all honesty, is something we all did very quickly! Sonak told us “her favorite part of MUN was sitting around a table, eating sushi with my friends and bonding with seniors and other people that I otherwise would not have gotten a chance to interact with.” After our late dinner, we left to sleep and get ready for Day 3.

Day 3:

Day 3 saw two more back to back sessions with an hour lunch break. After both the sessions had come to an end, we headed to the forum to be able to attend the delegate dance..

We again sat at the round tables and ate like there’s no tomorrow. Knowing this was the last night of HMUN, we were all a bit sad but we danced that away at the delegate dance and again spent our time together laughing and just talking about whatever.

After a night filled with deep talks and bodies sore from jumping to loud music, we headed off to bed.

Day 4:

We had one committee session in the morning where some of us failed our committee and then proceeded to have fun MUN which is honestly the best moments of your chair and directors doing something they wouldn’t do otherwise and a bonding experience with other delegates, such as dancing, rapid fire questions etc.

After the session ended, we ordered food for the last time which was a sad moment for all (or only me? Not sure!). We had the closing ceremony where awards were handed out and, this time, three Woodstockers won awards which was a proud moment for our delegation.

After the ceremony, we quickly got changed and left for Mussoorie again. This time, rather than sleeping, we sang, talked and (of course) ate Mcdonald’s. We eventually reached the dorms at 2 am and crashed.

Overall, MUN is a real experience to have with your friends and classmates. It increases your knowledge about politics and issues around the world and can even help you overcome stage fright. We do MUN for many reasons: for some, it’s the love of learning about our world and how to solve global issues and for some of us – like Anish – it’s because our moms made us do it.