Laikas at first international MUN conference in Luxembourg

The Milestone Model UN Society has attended this Academic Year’s first international MUN conference in Luxembourg. Have a look at the review below by one of the honourable delegates, Brúnó Sinka.

As we were boarding the plane to Luxembourg – most of us attending our first conference – we were very excited to leap into the alluring world of international conferences.

During the trip, we had our fair share of excitements: we only had 10 minutes between our connecting flights, and some delegates have found their luggage left at the second airport which arrived half a day later with the next flight. We’ve also met with three Hungarian chairs from Eötvös High School, who have all proved to be great company to our delegation.

After we’ve met with the organizers, we quickly headed to our hostel, some delegates relaxing, some making final tweaks to their position papers. Later we went to the city to immense ourselves in culinary delights, then went home to rest before the opening day.

On Thursday, LUXMUN has officially commenced. After attending the Opening Ceremony, which already had some great debate, we had the chance to take part in fun team-building exercises, where we got to know delegates from all over the world. Then came the official sightseeing, where we saw most of the city’s top attractions. Afterwards, the ambassadors went to the Diplomats’ Soiree, which allowed for more opportunities to get to know the other delegates.

Later that day, we’ve had to change hostels, taking a train into the city of Esch, which became our headquarters for the remainder of the trip.

The next morning we’ve risen with the sun, and made our way to Athénée, where the committees got right into work. All Laikas represented separate countries, debating in different UN bodies. We’ve discussed important matters, like supporting the less fortunate, intervening in armed conflicts and the effects of Genetically Modified Foods. After the exhausting debates, we’ve made our way back to the city, joined by the Eötvös delegation and a few organizers. We have immersed ourselves in the city’s culture, looking at the architecture and being caught off-guard by an ‘everyday’ symphonic concert in a beautiful public park.

During the weekend, the resolution drafting continued, with quite a few Laikas being main-submitters. To relax, some councils have jointly thrown huge Just Dance competitions, where the delegates could finally shine their hidden talents. As the weekend came to an end, the resolutions stood ready to be presented before the General Assembly the next day.

On a sunny Monday morning began the last day of the conference. During the GA all of our delegates were given glowing critiques. The delegate of Japan and the delegate of Sweden had the honour of presenting their own resolutions and answering any points of informations in order to brief the entire populace of LUXMUN.

After the GA, came the closing ceremony. This is the time for acknowledgments, where the delegates are anxious to know if they’ve received one of the two admired awards from their chairs.

I’m very delighted to say, that three members of our delegation have received Honorable Mentions. They are: Emma Somos from the Security Council, Dóra Berkes from the World Health Organization and Brúnó Sinka from the Economic and Social Council. Moreover,Beni Nagy hasn’t received an official award, but he was given a special shoutout from his chairs for his great work in the Human Rights Council.

With this the conference being officially over, the school turned into a huge party, giving place to a school fair, with great music, heavenly food and a lot of happy faces celebrating the successful conference and the end of the school year.

On Tuesday, we’ve packed our suitcases, swapping our suits and dresses for less formal clothes and went for one last sightseeing trip. We’ve visited the few places, that we’ve missed and after a delicious lunch we’ve headed to the airport. The rest of our journey was pleasant, and we were delighted to find out, that the Eötvös delegation were also taking the same flights, so we had time to discuss our awesome time together. Our plane touched down precisely at the predicted time and we’ve said our goodbyes at Liszt Ferenc Airport.

I have to say, that in fashion of the slogan of the conference “Overcoming inconceivable obstacles through cooperation” we’ve had quite a few bonding experiences, but the fun that we’ve had and the friendships that we made truly led to an amazing time together.

“LUXMUN was my first conference, which I attended after only participating in 3 MUN sessions beforehand. Fortunately our chairs were super nice and I really enjoyed my time in the World Health Council – I even got an Honorable Mention in the end.  On another note, our Hungarian team was wonderful and although we had to run after a lot of trains due to the fact we were always late, and even walked for two hours in the cold one night, I loved spending my time in Luxembourg with them.” – Dóri

“Attending LUXMUN 2019 not only meant visiting a city I had lived in, but also getting to know the next generation of Milestone MUNers. Every single delegate in the LUXMUN delegation outside myself, joined the MUN Society this summer term, which means that our society have prepared them in one month for their first conference. As the president of the MUN Society, I was impressed not just by their amazing company, but their enthusiasm and professionalism towards MUN. Representing France in the Security Council at LUXMUN was a rewarding experience for me and I have learned a tremendous amount from the chairs and the other delegates in my council. I was in the Security Council at three other conferences, but this was the most advanced, effective and professional Security Council I have ever been in, since truly every single delegate was prepared and actively participated. This made it possible that although we had difficult topics to discuss, like the Eastern Ukrainian conflict and terrorism, our council managed to be productive and have eye-opening debates.” – Emma

“LUXMUN was an event I will never forget. It was my first MUN conference, and even after the initial “complications” with the organization and housing, I enjoyed myself a quite a bit. This had a lot to do of course with the great people I attended the conference with, who made an already good experience even better. It was truly a unique week, as we mostly only slept around 4-5 hours each night, and then we had to engage in debate for the entire following day, and this achievement did in fact require monstrous amount of coffee (for me at least). All in all, I had a great time in Luxembourg, and I am more than looking forward to attending my next MUN conference.” – Olivér

“For me LUXMUN was really for of surprises and new experiences. Honestly at first I though I would go there for the conference and some MUN experience, then it turned out that it was more likely a social event than a formal conference, which in some way is actually cooler and more interesting. So in conclusion without the good company the trip would have been ten times worse, therefore I can only encourage anyone to go to a MUN conference and not only for the sight seeing, visiting new places and learn how to act like a UN delegate but for making friendships which in my opinion is definitely more important than the previous ones.” – Ádám