Argentina 2022/23

I cannot say that the United Nations Organization means anything to me personally. I do not see its sign daily, I do not read of any new meaningful laws that affect my life monthly and I do not cast my ballot once every four years to elect my representatives. The relevance of the United Nations Organization to myself is on a rather intuitive, an emotional level: I feel that in our time as we live globally we must think and govern globally because even if we never physically leave our place of birth the consequences of our way of life do. If democracy is the form of government that allows regime change without force, the United Nations Organization could be the vehicle for a form of international governance that allows global action without violence.

I applied to FAUMUN because I have always had a keen interest in foreign policy. During my studies I already learned a lot of theory about international politics, thus representing a country in an international conference would combine practical work with theoretical work. From my participation I mainly expect to learn a lot about skills like giving speeches, discussing but also to learn how to convince others in a political context. It is also a great possibility to look at politics from another perspective through the different countries we will be representing at the conferences. I hope that it will provide insights into political frameworks and also helps to understand political boundaries or compromises that one has to make in order to achieve a certain goal for a country. 

Everyone striving for a career in international relations must reach an in-depth understanding in analysing influences on the behaviour of various countries regarding their foreign policy. Model United Nations proves to be most helpful in providing students the opportunity to gain practical knowledge of world affairs and exchange opinions with experts and students from different cultural backgrounds and their experiences and skills. Moreover, MUN is a chance to cultivate the universities and student’s academic network. What is the purpose of universities other than not to enlighten already bright minded students and enable them to contribute effectively internationally?

The United Nations are the essential foundation our complex and interconnected world requires in order to maintain international peace and security. Offering a platform for all nations to voice their concerns and matters, it promotes dialogue rather than warfare, laying the cornerstone for cooperation and relationships among all nations. As the largest intergovernmental organization, the United Nations provide access to education for children around the globe, humanitarian aid during times of crisis and raise attention to those who cannot speak for themselves. Taking a look into the future, global issues like the climate crisis are obstacles that can only be overcome through international cooperation. Concerning these challenges, I understand that there is no other international forum extensive enough with which such a global effort could be materialized.

The United Nations Organization means for me that despite all the differences and all the conflicts in the world, states are still willing to communicate with each other and be part of a worldwide network. It gives me hope to know that there is still a bit of cohesion left even though it often doesn’t look like that and even though it might be heavily ritualized. For me it shows that communication is one of the key elements in the political world and that no matter how big or small and how powerful or not every country deserves to have their voice heard. But at the same time the organization reminds me that we still have a long way to go until every human can live a life in dignity and respect.

First of all, FAUMUN definitely creates exchange between different students from different fields of study and stimulates exchange of ideas. It also greatly promotes FAU students and opens doors for careers in the future. In turn, successful alumni cast a very good light on the university and create a good alumni network, which in turn can help future students. The FAU delegation is very successful in New York every year, creating international publicity for our university and encouraging international exchange. In general, the delegation can exchange with many different universities on site. In addition, I find it very admirable how much the students organize and manage themselves in terms of the program. Overall, the visibility and evaluation of the university but also the individual students can definitely be increased and expanded by FAUMUN.

FAUMUN is an excellent way for our university to represent itself and its students in an international environment, especially when the project will have a positive outcome for the FAUMUN Delegation. It also allows its participants to gain firsthand experience in working in an international field. Additionally, it trains its participating students to improve specific soft skills like language skills, debating techniques or to give speeches in front of a large crowd of people. Having students learn these skills will have FAU grow in all academic fields. FAUMUN has the ability to show people who think about studying at FAU what opportunities the university offers its students to enhance their skills and experience.

I always strive to grow from new and interesting challenges. Since I am majoring in International Law, I hope to learn about this complex of topics. I would like to make new contacts and interesting encounters. To me, the dynamics of working in a group are exciting. You can learn a lot about yourself from working under pressure and in a group. I would also like to train my rhetorical skills, especially in the English language. Sometimes it is incredibly important, not only which position you defend in a discussion, but also how you do it. Throughout your whole life, not only referring to a professional career, having these kinds of skills is extremely useful. Generally, I think that the project will give me a new perspective on many global challenges.

During the project I see it as a unique possibility to get to know and train the different aspects of the work of a delegation to the UN and experience a simulated work of the UN first-hand. Especially, the realistic insight of the work in the field of international politics is very exiting for me and I see it as an opportunity for which there is no apparent equivalent to get to know the international cooperation in the UN and experience the underlying negotiations of international relations. I hope to have the possibility of, besides being challenged by tasks in the field of international politics, being able to get to know an international network of other young and engaged students from all over the world, which are also interested in international relations and politics. This, I also see as very beneficial to further broaden my horizon and possibly also to gather new international friendships.

Although with the political situation right now most young people are afraid of what’s to come, many are hesitant to speak up or act. Whether this stems from fear or uncertainty about where to engage, political engagement is now more needed than ever. Model UN not only gives participating students the opportunity to actively engage but the project also helps to spread awareness among fellow students. Participating students become advocates of important political topics. By providing students with projects such as FAUMUN they receive the political education they need to become politically involved. Only through collaborative involvement of many students change can be achieved.

For me, the UN is a hope for a better society we all want to live in. It is a glimpse of bright future that might happen if people join forces and strive for a perspective together. „United“ means exactly this and demonstrates that pursuing only our own interests does not really have a long-term perspective. Therefore, the United Nations Organization means faith for me that millions of years of evolution are not in vain.

I want to learn as much as possible about the UN in a very limited time. Furthermore, I am looking forward getting in touch with people from all over the world who share the same interest in the United Nations. I applied for FAUMUN because I have always found the work of the United Nations very fascinating. The organization was founded shortly after the Second World War because the world finally accepted the fact that it is way more effective to work together as a team instead of fighting and killing each other. Although nowadays there is war all over the world the United Nations still exist and in comparison to the beginnings they have much more to do. With my application I want to show my support to the UN and I intend to show the world how important the UN still is.

The United Nations is a unique, international cooperation of all the countries in the world. Beginning as a peace cooperation the UN now stands for much more. The UN stands for cooperation, integrity, and diplomacy to strive for peace and solutions to problems that affect people collectively across the world such as poverty, global warming, and inequality. As an organization the United Nations overcome language barriers, cultural differences and partly diverting view on life to solve the great problems humanity is facing. To me this cooperation more then everything means hope. Throughout history humans struggled to maintain peace and form solutions that involve everyone, the fact that the UN manages to allow all nations to overcome their differences, gives me hope that the aforementioned problems will get solved.

For me personally, the choosing of FAU as my university mainly depended on the fact that, in contrast to most German public universities, I could study business administration in an international manner, having English taught modules, international fellow students, a mandatory foreign exchange semester and so on. I could not find this at any other university. What stands out for me the most in my studies is to be fully educated to work in an international environment in an ever more globalized world. This is exactly where FAUMUN comes into play for me. FAUMUN catapults me into the environment I want to potentially be working in. It lets me enhance and test my cultural competence that I have gained through theoretical studying. It leads me to a greater understanding of international politics and lets me practically experience the topics I have studied before. In summary, FAUMUN makes FAU more attractive to potential students, increases its standing in rankings, expands its international presence and produces more competent and excellent students that have gained practical experience while studying and therefore are set for influential careers.

I personally expect from my participation to first of all broaden my knowledge about the UN and all its agencies. I also want to work especially on my negotiation and discussion skills, as it is important in every aspect of life. As I got to spend my semester abroad in South Africa and especially with what is going on in Iran right now, I feel the urge to do something purposeful and educate myself as far as I can. Furthermore, I took some politics related modules in my master studies and discovered my passion for international relations and politics, so I want to find out whether a working environment like the UN would actually suit me. I am also very keen to expand my network within the university and beyond.

Growing up, the UN always seemed quite distant to me because I did not feel the effects of their decisions. It is possible due to the power of the EU, the unrelatedness of the past crisis, or both. After learning the importance of the UN in my second semester, in my opinion, there is no other international organization which is that influential regarding the protection of human rights, international peace and security. Alongside their main priority, the UN made and makes great efforts to uphold international laws. Therefore, to be able to carry out their missions effectively in the future, adjustments to several areas of operations should be realized, i.e. the P5, the integration of more NGOs and a higher budget.

Besides the fact that FAU seeks international recognition among other universities and globally, with FAUMUN our university offers students a platform to develop other strengths besides their actual degree and therefore creates motivated and educated students who will have an all rounded education and a higher level of generally demanded skills. In conclusion, this means that with FAUMUN the university offers students another way besides the academic curriculum of being educated by actually applying acquired knowledge and putting it actively to the test. This results in politically well educated, skilled and motivated students which represent FAU with grace and wisdom.

FAUMUN bridges the boundaries between different fields of study and thereby generates great synergy effects. Students break new ground together and gain experiences that would not be possible within a university course. Especially the interaction of many different international students provides a unique atmosphere and opportunity. The delegates act as representatives of FAU. On the one hand, we carry the name of our university to New York but also into the Model UN community. On the other hand, they also sharpen FAU’s profile and portfolio. In addition, former participants contribute their accumulated experience and insights to the FAUMUN participants so that we can benefit from it. The impact of the program is, thus, increased and provides a positive impulse to the curriculum.

I applied for the FAUMUN because it is the perfect opportunity to gain insight into how political matters are handled on a global stage. Being highly interested in international relations the United Nations Organization is a construct of great fascination to me. To be able to represent the interests of an entire nation in the face of an international collaboration requires a desirable level of professionalism. Therefore, my expectation for the program lie in acquiring the practical capabilities for researching, presenting and communicating relevant information, as well as improving my public speaking and negotiation skills.

FAUMUN provides a hands-on approach to international politics, a place where students not only gain first-hand experience but also have a forum for intensive exchange and cooperation – something that I have been missing in my studies yet, which were often purely academic in nature. Given my relatively modest view of the United Nations in its current state, I hope to gather insight into its inner workings, to „walk a mile in their shoes“ so to say.