SIMUN

The Wednesday that SIMUN started, I was a nervous wreck. I had done all my research, answered all the prep questions, and yet I didn’t think I was going to be ready to debate with a group on the topics. I really prefer not to talk in front of a bunch of people, and that’s what SIMUN is, basically. What really scared me was whether or not I could answer the questions people would through at me after I had given a speech.
I’m pretty sure the first day of SIMUN, for me, was a fail. The most difficult part is when your country has absolutely nothing to do with the situation and could probably care less whether Google decides to pull out of China or not. I had Zimbabwe, you see, and it rarely had any connection to the scenario at hand. That is, until the very last day. As SIMUN came to a close, my group had one scenario left and it involved the 2008 Presidential Elections in Zimbabwe, in which I was required to speak many times. The hardest part for me, was figuring out what position my country would take on each situation. Of course I had my own opinions of everything and I found it difficult when I agreed with one thing and then I would realize that Zimbabwe would not agree so I had to fight against my own thought sometimes, not just other countries.
In order to prepare myself for SIMUN I did a lot of research on my country, Zimbabwe. This helped a lot in understanding your own country and to help you consider what type of sides your country would be taking during SIMUN. Although, what helped me the most was definitely the prep questions we were given before SIMUN. On the first day of SIMUN I soon realized that those questions were the base of which our discussion topics were built! They were very helpful to me because rather than just throwing random topics at you for a scenario, you really knew and understood what has been going on.
To better prepare myself for next year I really need to think about the questions I might ask the other delegates as well as moves I might make as my country to get more involved in situations that do not directly affect my country. I needed to have asked more questions this time, and looking back I can see that. I was a little worried, with it being my first SIMUN experience, my questions would not make sense or have much importance to the crisis and then I heard people asking questions very similar to those I had already thought of.

SIMUN blog

Responding as a delegate from Zimbabwe:

Zimbabwe would agree that it is a good idea for the U.S. to secure the nuclear materials in Pakistan. I can see that if these materials were to get into the wrong hands, such as those of Al Qaida or the Taliban, the world would have a very big problem. Therefore, Zimbabwe believes that any extra help in securing these weapons would be a good thing for Pakistan and it would ensure that no terrorist groups get a hold of such powerful weapons.

According to “Pakistan's Nuke Materials AT Great Risk” from www.npr.com, “Pakistan's stockpile faces “immense” threats and is the world's least secure from theft or attack.” Seeing that the United States is a very advanced nation, Zimbabwe believes it would be very helpful to the Pakistan people and government to secure these weapons from outsiders. And, although Zimbabwe is not a fan of the United States, Pakistan is one of their few allies and can see that this is what's best for the nation.

As I stated before, if the nuclear weapons were to fall into the hands of terrorist organizations like the Taliban or Al Qaida, the world would have an extremely large problem. Not only would it affect the countries around Pakistan or just the U.S. but it would bring everyone into the picture and the world could fall into chaos. I do not believe anyone of the other delegates would want this to happen, I certainly would not since Zimbabwe has its own instability to cope with, it does not need war on top of it and we would feel obligated help and keep close ties with our ally, Pakistan.Zimbabwe hopes that with the help of the United States, they will be able to secure the nuclear weapons because if they are able to successfully keep them out of the Taliban's reach, we will be able to keep the rest of the world safe as well.

A few weeks ago I began Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. It is the story of a young girl named Chiyo, who is sold to an okiya-where geisha live-as a maid because her mother is almost dead and her father cannot support Chiyo and her older sister. She begins training to become a geisha; although she can only think of her family and her sister, whom she had been separated from. She tries to run a way, but does not succeed and is no longer allowed to learn to be a geisha and is forced to be a maid. As she grows older, however, she became recognized by her rare, blue-grey eyes and a very well-known and successful geisha, Mameha, and she is soon on the road to becoming a geisha once again.
What amazes me about this book is how different the culture is in Gion, a district in Kyoto, Japan. Young girls are taken away from their families and sold to a geisha house in order to become a geisha. Now, one may wonder, what is a geisha? A geisha is a Japanese girl who is trained all her life specifically to entertain men. They start training at a young age and learn how to pour tea or sake properly for men, dance, tell stories and even how to play an instrument called a shamisen. As girls grow older, they find an older, successful geisha to be their “older sister” who will help them become successful, and share their knowledge with the young or “novice geisha”. The most successful geisha of Gion are extremely respected by the women in Kyoto, many give very deep bows to the geisha as they walk through town-and all they do is entertain men.
I find it so interesting how different to cultures can be so different. If this occurred here, in the United States, people would be appalled. Women have so many more rights here, and have so much respect for themselves. Besides that, children here would not be sold at a young age to do what the geisha do. Right now, I am at a point in the book where Chiyo is exactly my age and I could not imagine having to do all that she does to be successful.

29 Degrees and Sunny

It was early. The majority of my blankets were off; I was shaking-although I wasn't sure whether it was due to being cold or nervousness before the track meet I'd be running in later that morning. Glancing at my alarm clock-which read 5:46 am- I pulled my covers over my head in attempt to get back to sleep. However, the only thing that I could think of now was the meet. I had to be there by 8:30, and I was running the mile at 9:30. Nerves are a normal thing for me before track meets, I've been running track since 7th grade and I have always, always ran the two mile, nothing more, nothing less; this mile was going to be something completely new. I continued waking up, shaking and checking the clock about every twenty minutes until around 6:40 so I could eat something before, but far enough away from the race so that I wouldn't feel like puking after. I stumbled down the stairs and into the kitchen I went to start a good, pre-race breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast with peanut butter. As soon as I finished, I went back up stairs, brushed my teeth, and got dressed in my light and navy blue track uniform-along with sweats and my varsity jacket because it was only 29 degrees- I then threw my iPod, my spikes and a couple granola bars into my bag and walked out the door.
After my dad dropped me off at Franklin (where the meet was taking place) I walked up to the track to find that only a couple of my teammates were there yet, so we just stood around for a minute until more of our team arrived and we set all our things down behind one of the field goals. By 8:40, anyone running the mile had arrived and we started to warm up: two laps around the track, drills and stretching. From there, you just have to stay loose until the race. At 9:30 exactly, boys and girls running the 1600m(a mile) were called to the starting line; I was thankful that the guys ran first. As soon as they finished, we were told to take off our clothes-meaning out sweats-and get to the starting line. The most nerve-racking moment of the day had finally arrived: the wait, which seems to last years, for the gunshot. “Runners, take your marks...” BANG!! And we were off. I wanted a good start, I believe I got one. I got out fast and really tried to keep my pace steady, and quick, keeping my stride nice and long. I would finish in the top ten, for this was the mile and more than twenty girls were running it. I felt good, I keep a good pace and the time I was trying for was 6:10. At the end, I did not make that time, I finished 8th, with a time of 6:27. Not bad for my first competitive mile ever, and with more practice that time will decrease. Running is a mind game, if you believe you can and tell yourself that you've got this, you can easily accomplish anything. Easy as that seems, its not. It is so easy to tell yourself, “She's just faster than me” because most of the time, all you want to do is stop when you know you can't. I think I can do it...I've just got to get past all the nervousness.