SIMUN Blog

SIMUN was at first a nerve wrecking terrifying unfamiliar experience. I didn't believe Mrs. Bergeski when she said it was fun and the older Globies help you out; however, I was wrong. SIMUN was a fun and educational experience which usually don't go together. It was fun because of the interaction with older kids that you have never met before. You also have to stand and speak up instead of just listening your teachers. It was very interesting for me because my county, Zimbabwe, would be considered one of the bad guys in most of the scenarios. It was kind of a challenge to fully give 100% when you yourself would do exactly opposite of what your country would do; for those three days in SIMUN, you aren't you, you're your country. The best part of SIMUN was asking questions after a junior gives a speech and they are not able to give a straight answer.
Over all, for my first year in SIMUN, I don't think I did too bad. I'm not a big fan of public speaking, but I did give my fair share of speeches, especially on the first day when my country was in the middle of the scenario. I helped write recommendations, gave speeches standing up for not only myself, but also pleading my allies' cause, and asked questions of the chair and the speakers. I definitely was not the most vocal in my group-that falls to Cuba-but I did speak a lot. If the scenario on the first day hadn’t been about my country, I know I wouldn't have had the courage to say much for the other two days.
To prepare for SIMUN, I did what every other Globie in my class did-look up the answers for the questions Mrs. Bergeski had us answer. Going to website based in different countries really gave me an idea of how other countries felt about Zimbabwe. I along with my fellow freshmen Globies, freaked out in between questions about how hard this would be. Since my older brother was in Global Ed, I called him a few times to ask him about SIMUN, how it worked, how nervous should I be, etc. He and his reassurance that SIMUN was fun probably helped me as much as the research did. Although I looked up my allies, I wasn’t really all that sure on where I stood with certain countries in my group.
Next year, I will definitely spend more time looking up Zimbabwe's relationships with other countries. Luckily, I knew China was my ally, along with other small African nations, but the only country I knew Zimbabwe was on horrible terms with was the United States. So I generally stayed away from European countries like Germany, France, and Denmark, along with the United States.