| 1.
Why did you join the Model Arab League (MAL)?
I joined the MAL at registration because it's a
great way to receive a
credit without actually taking a course. I joined also because I
felt I
didn't know much about the Middle East, even though the Middle East is
an
important region. I liked the idea of taking a trip. And the
MAL just
sounded like fun.
2. What did you like about it?
I liked best the way that everyone tried to
negotiate and come to common
terms, while at the same time trying to represent his/her country.
I
enjoyed watching the delegates metaphorically knock their heads against
each other for hours on end. Getting any kind of agreement felt
like a
victory.
3. Would you do it again?
I would not join again, because I realized the
MAL is not something my
personal aptitudes and preferences suit me for. Being a
no confrontational, quiet, easygoing individual is not necessarily an
asset
when role-playing in the MAL. I just don't have a good time
arguing, honestly.
I was in MAL once. Since I'll graduate soon, I won't have a chance
to
go again.
5. Did you think the MAL was hard?
Calling the MAL hard is not the best way of
putting it. The MAL gives
back as much as one puts into it. If one doesn't do much research
about
the nation, the committee topics, and the situation in the Middle East,
doesn't know any procedures, doesn't make resolutions, etc., etc., that
person will of course not be putting forth much effort. However,
by not
putting in effort ahead of time, the individual will have a harder time
doing anything constructive at the actual MAL. So the MAL is not
so much
hard as time-consuming. Yes, having useful skills in debate and
political
science and whatever are invaluable, but it is more important for the
person to have knowledge. One person in my committee, in
particular, had
done the model UN multiple times, but had been reassigned to a different
country a couple days before the MAL. As a result he was largely
ineffective.
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