Thursday, November 1, 2007
Experience of A Lifetime
Last semester, I was ready to take PolS 100w taught by Professor Edwards. When I arrived the morning of the first class meeting, I was really bummed because I did not think any of my friends were going to be in the class. When class began, I told myself “this is a required class that I need to have, just get it over with and move on to the next classes.” A few minutes later, two of my friends walk in. Professor Edwards began taking roll, as she did; my friends and I noticed that there was a large amount of students in the class. Among the three of us, two were already enrolled in the class. After Professor Edwards called roll, she asked if there were any graduating seniors in the class that were not called. Many hands moved into the air, professor looked and said, “Are there any students willing to give up their place in this class so I could accommodate these seniors?” Everyone in the class knew that no one would be willing to give up their place. My friends and I decided that there was no possibility for our other friend to get into the class, so we agreed that we would give up our places in the class and take PolS 100w in the Fall.
Because I agreed to give up my enrollment in the PolS 100w class, I needed another class. I could not decide which class I would take. There were so many classes to choose from; however, I figured that classes had already started most would be filled. As I was trying to determine which class I would be taking, one of the friends that was in the class told me that there was an opening in the class that he was taking. The decision was that I would take PolS 152B, Model United Nations, with Professor Montojo.
In the beginning, I was very skeptical about this class being that I had never heard of such a class and the fact that my friend was explaining what the professor expected from the students. As class went on I got more comfortable with the work load, but was still worried about the other part of the class. The other part of the class that I was worried about was the going to Burlingame and taking part of a simulation that other schools were going to participate in.
When it became that time in April when we would go to the Hyatt in Burlingame, we had a guest speaker come into the class. I have long forgotten his name but I will always remember what he said. "Hey, when you go there, make new friends and always keep in contact with them. I’ve kept in contact with the people that I met there and they have been great friends. Hey for you single people out there this might be the chance you get to hook up with someone, hey one may even turn out to become your husband or wife." When I heard this, all I could do was laugh. I really thought that what he said was stupid.
When the time of the Simulation Conference came I was ready to go but still scared of how I would sound in front of these other schools. The simulations began and afraid to speak, I felt like I just wanted to crawl under the table and hide. After the first caucus, a break for fifteen minutes, I was relieved that I got out of there. Coming back from the caucus, I still felt the same way. A few more speeches were given and then someone called for a caucus once again. This time was different, there were people going around trying to come up with a “Resolution Statement”. My objective for this was finding the other two from San Jose State and talk to them because I still was scared. More time had passed and it was time to go home, I felt a sigh of relief because it was time to sleep and get out of the room. I think I might have even been the first one to get out of the room and I was sitting in the very front.
The next day came and I was still afraid. When simulation began I had the same feeling as I came to the conference. Later on that day, a caucus for thirty minutes was called; one person came to talk to me and asked me about my views on the topic, after she had heard what I had to say, she called over a few more, this was her schoolmates and country’s allies. We began talking and I was feeling better about the situation. From that point it was a beginning of a new friendship.
Day three came and I was ready to tackle whatever was put in front of me. I worked hard during the caucuses trying to write those Resolution Statements based on the topic. Working with my new found friends was fun. Later on in the day, the Chairperson called an end to the day; however, they said that it was okay for the Committee to work on their Resolution Statements outside of simulation. I worked on Resolution Statements with my new friends, and we did not sleep most of the night and I did not come back to my room until three o’clock in the morning working on our proposal. I did not feel scared anymore.
Day four, this was our moment. Our proposal that my friends and I drafted along with other “countries” was put to the test and we had to defend it. We all stood up there trying to defend what we proposed and everyone liked what we had to say. Later on it came to a vote, remarkably our resolution statement passed, eighty percent of the countries voted for our statement.
At the end of the conference, two of the three countries, Bangladesh and Iran, that were represented by San Jose State took home certificates. After all the hard work of writing the necessary paper work and late nights working with my new friends and working with my fellow Bangladesh diplomats, we took home a certificate that we did not think we would have a chance at having. Bangladesh's diplomats were (From Left To Right) JaMa DeGuzman, Sergio Jimenez, Jenniffer Candelas, Corinna Reyes, and Angelina Rocha.
After the conference had ended, I got emails and calls from my friends that I made over at the simulation. My friends are from the Philippines, we have kept in contact since we met. After the conference, they all went their separate ways exploring the United States. Some stayed in San Jose. It is almost seven months now since the conference; I still keep in contact with them. We have become really good friends and when I think back to the guest speaker’s quote, I still laugh because it came true that I would have great friends. This is one of the reasons why I wish they offered Model U.N. once again. This is where crew T.G. began too. Because of 5109, this was where it all began. This was an experience that will last a lifetime.
Model United Nations, 5109, and crew T.G. are only the beginnings of newly opened doors.
Photo Credit:
Model U.N: http://www.munfw.org/
Hyatt Hotel: http://sanfranciscoairport.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp
Bangladesh Group Photo: George David taken on my camera
Because I agreed to give up my enrollment in the PolS 100w class, I needed another class. I could not decide which class I would take. There were so many classes to choose from; however, I figured that classes had already started most would be filled. As I was trying to determine which class I would be taking, one of the friends that was in the class told me that there was an opening in the class that he was taking. The decision was that I would take PolS 152B, Model United Nations, with Professor Montojo.In the beginning, I was very skeptical about this class being that I had never heard of such a class and the fact that my friend was explaining what the professor expected from the students. As class went on I got more comfortable with the work load, but was still worried about the other part of the class. The other part of the class that I was worried about was the going to Burlingame and taking part of a simulation that other schools were going to participate in.
When it became that time in April when we would go to the Hyatt in Burlingame, we had a guest speaker come into the class. I have long forgotten his name but I will always remember what he said. "Hey, when you go there, make new friends and always keep in contact with them. I’ve kept in contact with the people that I met there and they have been great friends. Hey for you single people out there this might be the chance you get to hook up with someone, hey one may even turn out to become your husband or wife." When I heard this, all I could do was laugh. I really thought that what he said was stupid.When the time of the Simulation Conference came I was ready to go but still scared of how I would sound in front of these other schools. The simulations began and afraid to speak, I felt like I just wanted to crawl under the table and hide. After the first caucus, a break for fifteen minutes, I was relieved that I got out of there. Coming back from the caucus, I still felt the same way. A few more speeches were given and then someone called for a caucus once again. This time was different, there were people going around trying to come up with a “Resolution Statement”. My objective for this was finding the other two from San Jose State and talk to them because I still was scared. More time had passed and it was time to go home, I felt a sigh of relief because it was time to sleep and get out of the room. I think I might have even been the first one to get out of the room and I was sitting in the very front.
The next day came and I was still afraid. When simulation began I had the same feeling as I came to the conference. Later on that day, a caucus for thirty minutes was called; one person came to talk to me and asked me about my views on the topic, after she had heard what I had to say, she called over a few more, this was her schoolmates and country’s allies. We began talking and I was feeling better about the situation. From that point it was a beginning of a new friendship.
Day three came and I was ready to tackle whatever was put in front of me. I worked hard during the caucuses trying to write those Resolution Statements based on the topic. Working with my new found friends was fun. Later on in the day, the Chairperson called an end to the day; however, they said that it was okay for the Committee to work on their Resolution Statements outside of simulation. I worked on Resolution Statements with my new friends, and we did not sleep most of the night and I did not come back to my room until three o’clock in the morning working on our proposal. I did not feel scared anymore.
Day four, this was our moment. Our proposal that my friends and I drafted along with other “countries” was put to the test and we had to defend it. We all stood up there trying to defend what we proposed and everyone liked what we had to say. Later on it came to a vote, remarkably our resolution statement passed, eighty percent of the countries voted for our statement.
At the end of the conference, two of the three countries, Bangladesh and Iran, that were represented by San Jose State took home certificates. After all the hard work of writing the necessary paper work and late nights working with my new friends and working with my fellow Bangladesh diplomats, we took home a certificate that we did not think we would have a chance at having. Bangladesh's diplomats were (From Left To Right) JaMa DeGuzman, Sergio Jimenez, Jenniffer Candelas, Corinna Reyes, and Angelina Rocha.After the conference had ended, I got emails and calls from my friends that I made over at the simulation. My friends are from the Philippines, we have kept in contact since we met. After the conference, they all went their separate ways exploring the United States. Some stayed in San Jose. It is almost seven months now since the conference; I still keep in contact with them. We have become really good friends and when I think back to the guest speaker’s quote, I still laugh because it came true that I would have great friends. This is one of the reasons why I wish they offered Model U.N. once again. This is where crew T.G. began too. Because of 5109, this was where it all began. This was an experience that will last a lifetime.
Model United Nations, 5109, and crew T.G. are only the beginnings of newly opened doors.
Photo Credit:
Model U.N: http://www.munfw.org/
Hyatt Hotel: http://sanfranciscoairport.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp
Bangladesh Group Photo: George David taken on my camera
# posted by JaMa DeGuzman : 10:46 PM
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]