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.