NYC. You know you've done NYC right when you return home and sleep 20 hours before doing anything else. I fully enjoyed my time in the Big Apple, successfully balancing MUN committee obligations with plain ol' crazy fun. Case in point, here is a picture of our team rocking out to either 'Bohemian Rhapsody' or 'Livin' on a Prayer' in this awesome karaoke place in Little Korea. yes, I sang karaoke in Little Korea. Then I took the subway at 3:00 am. Not cool, as there were lots of those poisonous rats the signs warn of. Its an epic night now, and I'm glad I had a chance to experience NYC the way it should be experienced.
The National MUN conference is different than most. Instead of having 2 Chairs per committee as part of the secretariat staff, NMUN has a Director and Assistant Director who serve directly on staff, and on the first night they choose someone from the committee to serve as the Chair and essentially become part of the staff for a week. Having had some Chair and secretariat experience, on a whim I decided to go through the interview process. This was partly a strategy, as the Director was ignoring my partner and I, and I knew sitting down face to face would help me stand out from the crowd of 299 other people. I was really direct and honest in my interview, and was preoccupied, thinking my team had left for our traditional karaoke without me. The interview finished around midnight and I saw a text that the team was just then leaving so I ran out of the intervew telling them to simply call me if I was chosen. Sure enough, somewhere in between Queen and Spice Girls I got a call saying I was to be the Chair of the General Assembly 3rd Committee. This is a huge honor, and the whole week I was transformed from delegate to staff. I got to meet a lot of the people running the conference and had an inside look as to how the thing is run, the awards process, and what makes a delegation stand out. I also gained great leadership skills. The best part, however, was being in committee in the actual UN building. For those of you not familiar with UN preceedings, the General Assembly Plenary is the offical GA body, though there are six subcommittees under the GA. These 6 committees pass resolutions and then report to Plenary for it to also officially adopt all resolutions. The final day of conference all the committees met in the UN building for a special Plenary session. Being the Chair of the 3rd committee, I had the opportunity to be the chair and facilitate the voting proceedings for a while. I spoke in the actual microphone, sat at the actual dias that the President of the actual GA sits at. It was way cool. The second picture is of me and my fellow dias in action.
With 2 chairs and 4 individual best delegate committee awards, Baylor's MUN came out on top. We won the highest possible award, which was that of "Outstanding Delegation." This is a huge relief, and it makes me even more excited for next year and my potential leadership within the organization.
I spent all day in the UN building on Thursday. The best part is all the signs posted everywhere, "Smoking Discouraged." Of course the UN wouldn't outright prohibit anything...I don't think anything else better illustrates the ironies and problems with the UN system than these signs...
I also got to eat in the Delegate cafeteria (almost illegally) and had the opportunity to meet an ACTUAL UGANDAN REPRESENTATIVE (!!!!!!!). He was so great to take 30 minutes out of his day to speak with some of us. The first thing he said was that we were so young. When we told him most were seniors or juniors, he was flabergasted, as higher education in Uganda is a priviledge not necessarily achieved at such a young age. Listening to him talk really put my own opportunities into perspective. I just spent the week gallavanting all over NYC. I had the chance to Chair in the UN building. I drank mojitos in a Cuban restaurant, had filet minon and crab at this upscale seafood restaurant, walked around Time Square well after midnight, drank frozen mochachino at the famous Serendipity dessert place, and frolicked around Central Park for a whole day, enjoying the beautiful weather and scenery. This fun, coupled with the added responsibilities of being Chair and part of the staff, gave me such a feeling of empowerment. Listening to the Ugandan Delegate, however, I realized that while these opportunities are outstanding and so worthwhile, they really are just the start. I'm young. so so young. It makes me wonder: If this is what I'm doing at age 20 (almost 21), what will I be doing at age 30? 40?
I realized something else this week. Sometimes, its fun to break the rules. Not in a detrimental way, but in a way that makes you feel alive. Maybe there is something to that UN sign of only discouraging rather than prohibiting bad habits.
On another note, Raleigh surprised me and drove through town today. It was especially nice to see him and I greatly appreciated the time he spent here in Waco with me. I've been sleeping and vegging and recovering from my crazy hectic week. It was really nice to see him, especially to see family on Easter.
I'm looking forward to summer. One month away. I have this vision of playing the piano in that great front room with the patio doors open, letting the sound waft out and down the pine tree street in the evenings and to spend serious time researching grad schools and such. I'm very glad Petey (the Petrof piano) was moved to Flagstaff this weekend.
Not sure what I'm going to do with my car George over the summer. hmmm.
Happy Easter. If nothing else, this week reaffirmed that today (and everyday) I am blessed by God's glory. He is good. so soo good.
