We met up with two of our presidents and chairs, Alia El-Kattan, President of SRCMENA and Nahdeen Hassanain, chair of ECOSOC, to get their take on the HIAMUN experience.
1. What do you like the most about HIAMUN?
Alia El-Kattan: My favorite thing about HIAMUN is the spirit of the conference, whether its the Academic and Organizing Committees or the forums. HIAMUN is a well-organized, beneficial, and truly enjoyable conference that guarantees delegates and students an unforgettable experience.
Nahdeen Hassanain: My favorite thing about HIAMUN is the balance that exists. Everyone has an amazing time yet also without ruining the structure or seriousness of the conference itself.
2. What’s HIAMUN’s unique point in comparison to other conferences that you have attended?
Alia El-Kattan: A huge part of HIAMUN is ensuring every delegate gets the most out of the conference, which is something I haven't experienced with other conferences. That includes the training sessions many delegates receive to ensure they enter MUN knowing the expectations, the feedback and the support the AC members are required to give, and finally chairs making sure every delegate in the forum has a chance to speak in the conference. Moreover, the forum sizes allow every delegate to get the opportunity to speak and debate, in contrast to other conferences with very large forums that don't give many of the delegates a chance to participate as much as they would like to.
3. Could you tell us about your experience as a delegate? What did you enjoy? What are potential difficulties? (For future delegates)
Alia El-Kattan: My favorite part about being a delegate has always been and will always be the heated, controversial debates. The best part of MUN, in my opinion, is the debate skills you learn while trying to deliver your point through debates that are both beneficial and enjoyable. The main difficulty is the resolution-writing, as it is not easy to come up with detailed, effective, and beneficial solutions to some of the world's most controversial and critical problems. It does get easier over time, though, through plenty of practicing.
Nahdeen Hassanain: My experience as a delegate has been amazing. I started out as an admin and made it a point that I participate in HIAMUN, as it keeps evolving and developing into, in my opinion, the best conference locally. The hardest part about it is the preparations that overlap with all the schoolwork. If you're new to MUN preparation, research is really important and having to find the time to make that a priority might be the challenge.