“Being curious and open to learning new things is what will drive your success in MUN."

“Bea, do you think that your level of Turkish is enough to chair in a MUN?” Jonas texted one day. The answer is no, unfortunately, but that makes me think. MUN in Turkish? What about in other languages, Italian, Spanish, French…? That's when I learned about MedMUN, and consequently, thanks to Agnese, I met Luna, the Conference Director for MedMUN 2024. 

Luna is participating in an exchange program at the American University in Cairo. She is also studying political science at Sciences Po, with a regional focus on the Middle East and Mediterranean. I am always inspired by people who learn languages with different alphabets than one of their mother tongues; honestly, it is impressive. 

Her MUN journey started in high school, almost by accident. During the early days of Covid, there was an online conference. She was Papua New Guinea in the UNHRC. “I knew nothing about the country I was representing then, but my preparation before the committee sessions gave me a social base of where to start”. Reflecting on her first experience, she gives excellent advice, and “preparation is key”.  The following year she created a MUN club at her school with the help of a teacher and two colleagues, that's impressive! They simulated debates and gave negotiation workshops. 

When she graduated and moved to Menton, she joined MedMUN in 2022, where she became the International Criminal Court committee director and gained more experience. If you didn’t know, ICC operated under completely different rules. “We tried to stay true to the real-world procedures of the court”. The committee is much smaller, with judges, lawyers, and testimonies—only about 10 people. This makes the dynamic more intense and serious than the General Assembly committees, which can feel more like role-playing.

She was the MedMUN 2024 Conference director, as I mentioned above. “I was really happy with the team I had—they are friends of mine”. She confessed to me that one of the biggest challenges was coordinating 11 committees. “It took a lot of internal communication and motivation.”  “mymun was essential for making the conference happen”. She explained that everything could be organised through it, and the platform was very responsive to their needs. “mymun is really the magic trick for making MUNs run smoothly”. 

Of course, I have to ask her why so many languages. Initially, MEDMUN offered fewer languages, she told me. Still, over the past 13 years, it expanded to include additional languages like Turkish, Spanish, and Arabic to reflect the diversity of its participants better. Last year, the conference introduced interviews specifically for chairs, requiring them to respond in the language of the committee they were applying to. This approach allowed the organizers to assess their proficiency in the chosen language. For candidates whose committee language was neither their native language nor the one they studied, additional email exchanges ensured their language skills met the required standard. This change was an effective step in the broader learning process, balancing the challenge of using a non-native language with maintaining strong participant engagement.

Thanks to her experience, she has given me several pieces of advice: “It's important to pair chairs which complement each other and to ensure constant communication.” She also highlighted that background guides need to be clear and that deadlines should be respected. Moreover, she talks about the role of MUN Command in the chair´s role: “MUN Command is incredibly helpful for managing time, keeping track of position papers, and communicating efficiently."

She will do her masters in Territorial and Urban Strategies. Additionally, writing speeches and debating complex topics has been an invaluable experience. 

As I look ahead to the possibility of chairing a committee in Turkish at the next MedMUN, I can’t help but reflect on how much I admire Luna’s journey. Though I'm not quite ready, the thought of future MUNs in multiple languages excites me. Luna’s journey reminds me that language learning and the MUN journey is a process, and each step opens new doors.