Meet the SOCHUM Chair
A native Californian, Hannah is a sophomore who
majors in History at Yale’s Calhoun College. Here, Hannah tells us about her
experience preparing for the conference and her past as a Model UN participant,
while also generously dispensing valuable advice for future delegates and
chairs.
Not new to the MUN experience, Hannah started
attending conferences when she was a freshman in high school. ‘I was still in
eight grade, and during registration for high school, they had all these tables
laid out for different extra-curriculars. They had mock trials, speech and
debate, and they had this Model UN table. I was walking around and I see this
table – the girls at this table said, you know, it’s a really chill program,
it’s a lot of fun, you compete at UC Berkeley every year,’ she recalls. Hannah
emailed the coach and teacher-in-charge, and joined the club as soon as she
could. Off she went to Berkeley to compete, which she said was ‘actually a
really steep learning curve. I had no Model UN experience before; my team was
brand new at the time; we were just starting. I think as a first timer at UC
Berkeley, I was really intimidated’. This didn’t deter Hannah from continuing
with Model UN, however. ‘I loved the issues we were talking about; I still
didn’t know how procedure worked, but I think Model UN really falls through
team building and collaboration and thinking and problem solving,’ she said.
Model UN became such an important part of her high school career that it was
one of the factors she considered when she was choosing which college to enroll
in; she ended up writing about in her college essay to Yale, having known that
the college had a ‘great International Relations Association and … a really
strong Model UN team and Model UN community.’
All this experience has definitely helped
Hannah prepare for her SOCHUM chairing appointment, as it deals with human
rights, cultural and social issues. She and her vice-chair, Monica, began
preparing last semester fall. ‘The first half of preparation was really geared
toward writing the topic guide. Through November, December and January, it was
researching for the two topics and then it was writing and editing the topic
guides. By the beginning of February, the topic guides were at least online,’
she recalled. Most of the topic guides were written via Google Docs (‘thank God
for technology’), where she would make comments or edits and her vice-chair
would make those adjustments accordingly. Correspondence was mostly carried out
via email, with only one Skype call in the initial stages of the collaboration.
The chair training sessions were then up next. All the chairs as well as
Miranda Melcher – the Under Secretary General for Committees – would meet once
every week for an hour every Sunday to review clause writing, procedures,
debate format and so forth.
So what
is Hannah looking forward to in YMUN Korea? ‘I’m really, really looking forward
to interacting with delegates,’ she said, ‘I’m also looking forward to
experiencing the culture of Korea.’ Hannah has been reading up on Korean
history, and this past semester she has been taking a course called Nationalism
In East Asia which focuses on China, Japan and Korea. ‘I think this will also
from an academic standpoint really allow me the opportunity for a week or ten
days to experience a completely different culture in East Asia, especially
since Korea is one of the economic powerhouses now,’ she remarked; being her
first abroad experience outside of America must also add to the excitement of
the conference.
Does Hannah have any tips for future delegates and chairs?
‘Sure! First, just stay up to date with the topics. At the core of Model UN is
studying International Relations and Global Affairs,’ she observes. ‘Just try
to enjoy learning! For first time delegates, just research and make sure you
know as much procedure as you can. Find a mentor perhaps? One who can kind of
help you and guide you.’ Hannah notes that the importance of coming to the
conference with an open mind, urging delegates to ‘take everything you learn,
whether it’s from other delegates, from your chairs or from the research you’ve
done’. Not only will this help delegates prepare for future conferences, but
she believes that it will also help them ‘develop a really, really good world
perspective’. Chairs? ‘Don’t be afraid to exercise your authority because
that’s what the chair is supposed to do; they’re supposed to moderate the
debate,’ she notes. ‘Debate can’t be effective without a chair who is willing
to be assertive. So have fun, but don’t be afraid to speak up because the
delegates very much look up to the chairs.’
by Michael James Anthony
