Model United Nations
During my time as the USG Committees of SurreyMUN 2015, I was responsible for overseeing the operations of each committee in the conference, checking and approving background guides written by staff in preparation for delegates, and I also decided and came up with all committees that would be run in the conference. In addition to those official duties, I also had to communicate with staff directly to make sure that everything went as planned, and to ensure an overall pleasing experience to everyone involved. Though I have been involved in Model United Nations for over a year, this was my first Secretariat experience, and in this capacity, I learned what really went on behind the scenes. I learned how much work went into a MUN conference, and without this role, I never would have realized the extent of time and effort all Secretariat members had to dedicate. Though I had an official role description, on the day of the conference, all Secretariat had to work outside of their assigned jobs in order to make sure this inaugural conference was well received. I periodically went to all committee rooms to supply water and office materials to staff, listened to delegates as they spoke in sessions to make sure that they were having a good time, and also looked after the staff and Secretariat room in order to make sure everyone was up to date with everything that was going on. In this capacity, I experienced a complete pushing of my own limits, and I was grateful to have the opportunity. In all honesty, I had worked toward being a Secretariat member ever since my first MUN conference in 2014, going through the levels of delegate and staff, and I finally achieved that through SurreyMUN 2015.
In my role as Financial Director of this upcoming health sciences conference, I manage an operating budget to maintain the financial health of the organization, track, approve, and reimburse all financial transactions, seek and develop creative cost-effective measures for the organization, and also oversee the expenses of the Logistics Manager. I am a strong believer in hands-on learning, and through this experience, I learned how to set up community bank accounts, work PayPal, and to an extent, also how to professionally deal with delegates and their financial concerns. I worked closely with all executive members of the organization in order to ensure that the budget was regularly updated with correct information, and I often would find myself working late to make sure all payments and registration concerns were accounted for. This role pushed me to my absolute limits and allowed me to learn firsthand how to organize conferences and manage budgets, and I was able to apply this knowledge when I was starting my own society, Campaign Genesis.
As the Director of SCO for ConnectMUN 2014, I was responsible for overseeing the entire resolution process and approving draft resolutions, made sure that delegates were writing resolutions in proper format and staying in character, moderated committee sessions when the Chair was unavailable, and also was responsible for being the liaison between the SCO team (with an Assistant Director and Chair) and the Secretariat. This was my first staffing experience at a MUN conference, and through this, I learned the importance of having open communication lines, working closely with all members of my Dais instead of using a top-down management approach, and I also learned the significance of staying organized. My team and I worked tirelessly on writing backgrounders for delegates, sometimes working into the early hours of the morning each day for weeks, but we experienced the feeling of fulfillment when we finally accomplished our goal together. In this capacity, I realized that I couldn't sit back and wait for others to respond for me, I had to step up to the plate and voice my thoughts on my own, or they would never be heard. All our hard work contributed to a successful conference with more than 700 delegates in attendance, thanks to all the staff and Secretariat members that were involved.