SEVECEN Sayı: 28 - 2019

24 Beliz YÜREKLİ HOLA! It was a really great experience for all of us 7th graders to be able to participate in VALMUN’18 with Izmir SEV. For those of you who have never been to an international JMUN Conference, I’d like to give you a summary of each of those memorable days. On day 1, I had to wake up at 3.30 am, which was very difficult but I had to get to the airport on time! After everyone arrived, we immediately went to the gate. We were so excited! In Valencia, we were picked up by our tour guide Javier. He took us all around Valencia and we did a lot of sightseeing that day. We went to the famous Opera Building, an old museum and to “Calico Jack”. It was a fun place where we played a game – similar to Locked-In. We then went to our hotel to change our clothes and then to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. I ate an enormous hamburger and also nachos and brownies and ice-cream! After that, we went back to the hotel and slept because we were exhausted! Day 2 started with breakfast and then we did some more sight-seeing! First, we went to the Basilica Church and then to a wonderful candy store called Belros. Next was a shopping visit to Ale-Hop and then to Taco Bell for lunch. YUM! After that, we went to a mall and did even more shopping before we returned to our hotel to get changed for the conference. It was time to get serious! We took a bus to the American School of Valencia which was situated about an hour outside Valencia. We shared the bus with kids from a school in Luxembourg so we immediately started making new friends. On the way there I was a bit nervous. After arrival, I immediately went to my committee room which was ECOSOC. My topic was “ending income inequality between genders and social classes”. I had done a lot of research before the conference so I was quite ready for the discussions. All of the committee members gave their opening speeches as a kind of introduction. I gave mine too. Our chair, Alessandro then organized a mock debate with a funny topic: “bald people”. It was really hilarious! I created a super resolution together with a Latvian friend called Eva. She was so kind. After the session, we had dinner at ASV before returning to the hotel by bus. That night at the hotel we had some time to relax in our rooms. We were lucky with our room because it was really big and nice. It was a suite. On the third day, there was an opening ceremony before the committee meetings that lasted all day. We discussed our resolutions a lot in the meetings. Unfortunately, our resolution didn’t pass because the delegation from Bangladesh disapproved. There were 10 votes against, 9 in favor and 3 abstaining. Still, we did really well and we were proud of ourselves. Mrs. Tıraşın and Göker Bey were really proud of us too! After all the serious work it was time to get changed and run to the sports hall where we played some games. Then there was a pizza party in the school cafeteria. It was a fun party and everyone danced. It was the best day of the whole trip in my opinion. On the final day, we checked out of the hotel and went to the UN Base. It was an interesting place. There they put us in a simulation and we were suddenly playing the UN game again! It was a surprise and great fun. We had a debate which involved the Environmental and UNHRC committees. I enjoyed the debate a lot. Rita, our friends from Luxembourg and I wrote a resolution together. We felt like real UN Delegates! After that, it was time to go to the airport and fly home. We arrived safe and sound in Izmir at 3.45 in the morning! What an experience! If you ever get the chance to go to a JMUN conference, you really should do it! We all thought it was an amazing experience! We learned a lot and had so much fun! Thank you JMUN! Some ReflectIons after ValMUN 2018