Musings on CAIMUN

Prior to this experience, if someone told me they wanted to motion to the dais for a 10 minute unmod, I would probably have raised an eyebrow in confusion and swiftly move in the opposite direction. Fortunately, I have since then been enlightened. I, along with fifteen other Brentwood delegates, was invited to attend CAIMUN in Vancouver from May 22nd to the 24th. Despite having zero MUN experience leading up to the conference, I was guided through the process by our seasoned MUNners and assured that everything would be okay. The experience turned out to be far better than I could have expected. The entire community was very supportive, Brentwood and those representing other schools at the conference included. In DISEC, at the beginning of our first session, our chairs asked how many of us were first-timers; more than one third of us raised our hands. Throughout our sessions, the chairs explained each new element of procedure so none of us would be left scratching our heads, dazed and confused as to what was going on. Our more experienced delegates weren’t left to twiddle their thumbs either. Some impassioned debates took place in the US Senate, after moving from discussing their set “immigration” into open topics like gun control and same-sex marriage. The thought of CAIMUN, or MUN in general, was initially very daunting. Speaking in front of large groups of people about issues around the world was not my idea of “fun”. Thankfully, with the encouragement and support of our club, I was otherwise persuaded. Meeting like-minded students and discussing global issues, while exploring Vancouver and dressing up in your favorite fancy clothing makes for an unforgettable experience, and I can’t wait to be a part of something like it again. Yasmeen G, Allard ‘17