[Student Reporters] The Essence of Model United Nations

June Kim / <12th, Korea Kent Foreign School>

Extracurricular activities show colleges that you are willing to devote your time and effort for something other than studying. Recently Model United Nations (MUN) has become extremely popular among high school students. MUN is a meeting in which students take on roles as diplomats and deliberate world issues. Students who attend regular Korean schools foreign language high schools or international schools come together for MUN conferences.

Nicole Park a sophomore at Yongsan International School said "I followed my friend to MUN and I ended up absolutely loving it! It really increased my debating skills and it was a great opportunity for me to socialize."

Nicole emphasized that students should not join MUN just for college applications because it takes out all the fun in it. "You actually have to enjoy discussing debating and meeting new people if you want to try out for MUN" said Nicole.

The cost of going to a conference is not cheap. Students spend more than a hundred dollars to be a part of MUN. However some students do not seem to be bothered by the high price.

Jason Han a student attending a regular Korean school thinks that it is up to the students to make the experience worth it or not. "I spent an average of 150000 won on each conference. If you go there and just stare at the clock for two hours you have totally wasted your money" said Jason. "You are the one responsible for making the most out of it."

Lynn Lee a junior from an American private school thinks differently. She thinks the high price favors students who are financially well-off. "Even if the conference is worth all the money I still think it is a bit too expensive overall. I also think that it isn't fair for students who aren't so rich" said Lynn.

Hyunwoo Lee a junior at Korea Kent Foreign School has been to eight MUN conferences during the past two years. "I learned a lot about making strong arguments and being careful with what you say. You have to be careful with your words during MUN conferences because you are representing your country's stance" said Hyunwoo.

Problems always occur when money gets involved. MUN conferences may be thought of as a huge clique of rich kids. Despite the fact that MUN's might be centered towards rich students going to a foreign language high school or an international school it does not take away the priceless experiences it gives to the participants.