Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Prompt #5- Observing a Community

By: Katie Nagy

             A lot of people with law degrees end up going into a profession that may not include practicing law, but are still related. A common job after getting a law degree is the field of negotiations. People with law degrees have the skills to work as mediators, negotiators, and even jobs in international relations. I Interviewed a college freshman named Natalie about the Model United Nations (MUN) club she is a member of at her campus, and found out a lot of interesting information about the MUN club:
           
            “One of the interesting thing about being in MUN and going to the meetings is you realize the different ways that debate is used, so the actual debate topics are things like IP legislation vs. government transparency, so you have these complex topics that are not easy to discuss in any way, especially in a small amount of time. During the actual meetings of the club, the way we use the debates is in a comedic sense. The benefit of these comedic debates is if you are allowed to answer a funny prompt or question in front of people, then it is easier to talk in front of a crowd when you are answering a serious question. During debates, you are allowed to pass notes to each other and assist your other members, but a lot of the debates are impromptu and you may discuss a topic before a debate, but most of the talking done has been come up with on the spot. Additionally, something I like about going to the conferences for the MUN club is you are allowed to see many different sides of people, and in particular you can spend 4 days discussing IP legislation and other difficult topics that are debated by very intelligent people."



       Along with the intelligent debates at MUN, Natalie also loves the experiences in her club. Natalie states about the club, "One thing I love about MUN is the energy associated with it, you sit in a car to a conference for 10 hours and then you bond with everyone you are working with and you are put in committees together and you become so close with so many people after four days. You can see the solidarity and relationships that exist. In a committee, there are blocks or groups of countries that align together and make resolutions and in the clubs there are blocks depending on gender, e-board, etc. and it is very interesting to see the way that works and how everyone works together. Everyone in the club pulls their own weight, and everybody is seen as equals."
           
           After the interview with Natalie, perhaps the most surprising information I learned from her was the solidarity in the Model United Nations club. Lawyers are seen as sharks that debate and fight for the win by themselves, but in Model United Nations, the whole club has to work together and has a common goal in mind. With lawyers, everyone at a firm has to rely on someone else for help and everyone has to work together for the firm to succeed. The Model United Nations club is a great stepping-stone for a future lawyer.

International Relations Club. Digital image. Web.wm. The College of
       William and Mary, n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.

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