Model United Nations
part two
What are your thoughts on the United Nations?
My thoughts on the United Nations have changed through doing this project. I have gone from understanding and knowing almost nothing about the United Nations council and politics in general and I have developed a deeper understanding of what this council does for our world. I have learned that it is extremely important to listen to other people and hear what they have to say and sometimes compromising might be needed to come to a conclusion that both people are happy with. I have also learned that it is important to stick up for what you believe in no matter what it is and chances are someone out there agrees with you and would support you in this movement.
Project Description
For the model united nations project, we were asked to perform two United Nations conference from the perspective of a given country. for the first conference we were asked to reflect on the Venezuelan refugee crisis . In the second conference we discussed nuclear disarmament. We started by doing research on our country's political views and learning about the given topic. After building some basic knowledge we starting writing policy papers on our countries perspective on the situation. These papers were written from the perspective of our country and were accurately representing our given country. After finishing our policy papers we performed a two four hour Model United Nations conferences where we are asked to discuss the Venezuelan refugee crisis and nuclear disarmament as if we were part of the united nations.
How have you grown through the project?
What skills/ Knowledge have you learned?
During the last conference, I did not know how to prepare and present a speech and I struggled to understand what was going on in the conference and became lost and confused very quickly. Throughout the most recent conference, I felt more prepared and I was able to understand what was going on throughout the entire conference. I have gained public speaking and how to hold a professional attitude throughout the two conferences.
Through the Model United Nations conferences, I have gained many valuable life skills. Public speaking has always been a struggle for me and will continue to be one of the harder parts of the school for me and to gain experience by giving a speech helps me gain confidence in my ability to talk in front of others.
What would you do differently
If I were to do another model United Nations conference I think I would try and work on being more engaged in the conference. I was an engaged listener and worked with others while writing resolutions. Although due to my and my public speaking abilities I was not confident enough to ask questions following speeches. Asking questions is a great way for me to further my understanding.
Model United Nations Part one
Project Description
For the model united nations project, we were asked to perform two United Nations conference from the perspective of a given country. for the first conference we were asked to reflect on the Venezuelan refugee crisis . In the second conference we discussed nuclear disarmament. We started by doing research on our country's political views and learning about the given topic. After building some basic knowledge we starting writing policy papers on our countries perspective on the situation. These papers were written from the perspective of our country and were accurately representing our given country. After finishing our policy papers we performed a two four hour Model United Nations conferences where we are asked to discuss the Venezuelan refugee crisis and nuclear disarmament as if we were part of the united nations.
Project Reflection
The model united nations project was very difficult for me at first. Once I had the basic knowledge I needed it became easier for me to accurately represent my country. I learned many political things throughout this project and it has pushed me to think deeper about politics. One of the most interesting things iv learned in this project is how different countries interact at a United Nations conference and it is cool to see this recreated in the classroom where we represent specific countries. For the first United Nations conference, I felt decently prepared, I know what was going on throughout the conference but I felt as if I was not able to add to the conversation in a meaningful way. I'm not sure how I can prepare myself for the next conference but I would like to find a way to represent my country more and to add more to the conversation.
Adolescents the good, the bad, and the ugly.
This project was about the adolescent years, 12-24, and how these times are extremely influential to the rest of our lives after adolescence. We dived deep into research by Kohlberg and Erikson learning about cognitive development, moral development, gender, and morality. This short project taught me that it is important to take risks with your friends and learn from the mistakes you make because that will shape you into the person that you are when you are older.
When you think about this project, what are you most proud of and why?
This project was an interesting project I learned a lot about myself and my mom through an interview and doing research on adolescents. After interviewing with my mom I was able to come up with an idea of a portrait that depicts what her high school years were like. She talked about living in Kansas and how she played in the band and was a good student in high school and went to Duke University for college. For the photo, I decided to have my mom stand in a cornfield in a red jacket and a Duke university hat. The photo is a piece of this project that I feel best about. I do enjoy taking photos and do it outside of school but I find portraits difficult, to direct a model and tell them the emotion I want in the photo is difficult but doing it for this project was great practice.
Where did you run into difficulty with this project?
Somewhere that I could have done better in this project is picking who I interview. I choose the easy way out and chose my mom. While interviewing her I learned that her childhood and adolescent years were relatively “boring” or she was holding back information that she didn't want to share with her son. My mother spoke very little about the mistakes and lessons she learned from throughout her life only talking about how she was a good student and was engaged in school activities. If I were to have chosen another important role model in my life and asked them the same questions I think I would have gotten more deep and interesting responses. My mom is a great model of a good student and to work hard for what you want but was almost to the good of a kid in her adolescent years.
What is the most important thing you learned over the course of this project?
Throughout this project, I learned a lot about my mother and how she has worked for what she has now and I have also learned how it is ok to make mistakes as long as you learn and develop from those things. My mother has worked very hard since her sophomore year of high school to be the doctor she is now. Through interviewing my mom I have learned to set your goals and work for that. The teenage brain is interesting and complex but I have learned why some of us make the decisions we do. I have also learned that it is extremely important to spend time with your friends and make mistakes and memories with them because those memories and things you do will affect you for the rest of your life.
Self assesment
I would give myself an 8/10 on the classroom habits and intellectual presence rubric. The reason I give myself an 8/10 is that 90% of the time I can stay on task and be engaged in the classwork. The other 10% of the time I'm just unmotivated and don't feel like doing much it just depends on how I feel. Today I'm feeling motivated because I had a rough weekend and I don't feel like being social at the moment so I sit down and finish the work that has been presented to me. I think that if I could work more on my motivation and getting things done before there due would benefit me in the future.