SIMUN

I really enjoyed the SIMUN experience. It gave me a better understanding about how things actually go in the United Nations. I think I did pretty well in the simulation. As Russia, I was required to speak pretty often and be involved in each scenario. At first, I was nervous for this, but after the first day, I got the hang of it. My favorite part of SIMUN was going into caucus. It was interesting to be able to informally communicate with other delegates whether they agreed with me or not. During every caucus, I heard some really good points, and adjusted my stance to fit in with the current happenings. Overall, SIMUN was a really fun three days.


The part of SIMUN that was not fun at all was the preparation. It was rather time consuming and not always the most interesting. I did, however learn a good amount of interesting useful information. The most helpful part of the graded preparation was the research on the four prep questions. Since they were directly related to the scenarios we were doing, they helped me the most when it came to the actual simulation. Sometimes, during that research, it was hard to find reliable resources to use. I never realized how many inaccurate websites there were. Most of the websites on the handouts we received were helpful in researching both the scenario background and my country’s recent history. I learned very much about Russia I never knew before, especially how they would respond in certain world crises, which is really the most important information to know going into the simulation. Reading over and memorizing Parliamentary Procedure was also a main part of my preparation, and one of the things I was most nervous about going in. The day right before SIMUN, when we did a mock crisis in class really helped with the procedure and what to say when.

For SIMUN next year, there are couple more things I would research. The main one would be to find all my countries allies and enemies and make sure I know who they are when we get to the simulation. This year, I knew Russia’s main allies and enemies, but not all of them. Knowing this would have helped me when it came to recruiting the smaller countries to join my side of the argument. I would have known how to better convince them and which ones to target in the first place. SIMUN was a very good experience, and after my first year of SIMUN, I am seriously considering attending MAMUN next year.

SIMUN blog

Responding as a Russian delegate:

As Russia in this situation, I am starting to prepare my army, but as of now, have no plan to send troops into Pakistan. I am going to focus mainly on my own country and the security of my government, people, and own nuclear weapons. I do not have any problems with the United States stepping in to control this chaotic situation, but rather support their decision. I think someone needed to step in just as the United States did. Some would say this was a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty, but without that extra support, there is no doubt that the Taliban would succeed in their efforts and end up with the nuclear weapons. This would most likely be the end of the world as we know it.

If anything, I am worried that the terrorist and rebel groups in Chechnya might get some idea from the Taliban. They might try a similar tactic to retrieve nuclear weapons, jeopardizing the stability of my government and my citizens’ lives. Although they probably wouldn’t attempt to overthrow my government, they may go after an easier target and then threaten me with their newly acquired weapons. I am mostly preparing my armed forces for the possibility that this situation does elevate and start to spread. If the Taliban did end up with Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, I would be much more concerned for the safety and security of my country than I am now. At this time, however, I am preparing my forces to fight just in case, and to show Chechnya that I will not be an easy target.

Joy Luck Club freewrite

The Joy Luck Club is a tale of four women immigrants from China and their daughters. They each have a unique, interesting story of their cultural backgrounds and how they adjust to the United States. As the story goes on, their four stories blend together and the reader is exposed to a deep insight into China’s long, traditional history and the hardship of adjusting to the modern America.


Much of the culture revolves around women being inferior. They believe that every woman should be a good wife, taking care of her husband’s every need. Women cannot express any opinions or wants they have. This would be considered selfish. All the mothers of the Joy Luck Club were raised on that kind of thought. They still follow it now that they have come to California. The daughters, however, have been exposed to a more modern world where women actually have a say in things and are almost completely equal with men. They have a hard time convincing their moms that this new way is acceptable as well as the traditional way of thinking.

Divorce is generally not an option to the mothers of this story. Most of the daughters are having marital problems and really have nowhere to turn but divorce. As each of the daughters tells her mom, accusations come out as to why the marriage has failed. Most of these ideas occur in the daughters’ heads. They remember little superstitions their mothers had told them as little girls. For example, every grain of rice you don’t eat will make a pockmark on your husband. The more pockmarks a man has, the worse of a man he is. At first glance, this is a way to get kids to finish eating. However, as her marriage is falling apart, one of the daughters remembers this, and how she reacted when her mom first told her. She starts to blame all her problems on this theory.