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By Mansoor
Good Morning AIS-R, Mr. Ambassador, Dr. Breslin-Smith and distinguished guests.
When I was young, an adult asked me what I wanted the world to be, what I would change in the world and I replied, just like any other naïve child would, “World Peace is what I want.” Who wouldn’t want the world to be a utopia at that age? As I spent more and more time here at AIS-R, from KGI to elementary school, I learned very quickly that world peace is an ideal worth working toward but not as easy to achieve as I originally thought. In fact, sometimes I began to think that maybe world peace isn’t possible at all. So I was forced to stick with this mindset of never being able to achieve peace even on a small scale, just because I knew that globally, world peace would never be possible.
This mindset was wrong, and I quickly learned that too when I went into my middle school years and realized that yes, we are part of something much bigger than ourselves, and that connection requires that we do our part in our community and try to bring change into our lives. That’s why I got involved in Model United Nations. And by participating in Model United Nations, I realized that the real United Nations is the perfect catalyst for reinvention, and working through it ultimately gives us hope for a better, more peaceful world.
This was very liberating. It liberated me from the somewhat childish mindset I had in the years before. I realized the MUN is not a club, but it emulates a global organization and it globalized my perspective. As I went from MUN conference to MUN conference, both internationally and locally, it occurred to me how the AIS-R community is just like the UN broken down into its simplest form.
As an organization The United Nations consists of many bodies, mainly the General Assembly represented by 193 countries. Other major bodies include the Security Council, the International Court of Justice, and the Economic and Social Council.
What all of these agencies do, when working together, however, is increase our awareness of the world outside these walls. When we discuss possible solutions or just research an issue, we automatically increase our awareness, and consequently become less ignorant people and in a less ignorant society. That alone may help us in our day-to-day lives.
Lastly, and possibly my most important realization about the UN is the fact that this organization is a human organization – It is a group of people coming together to talk. That is the UN in its simplest, most basic form.
Now I know that it seems pretty obvious that they are a bunch of adults that talk with one another, but isn’t that what the world needs? Isn’t that what we are supposed to do as well--- as people---, on a more fundamental level?
We talk with each other all the time, whether we’re trying to understand what in the world our French teacher just said, discussing the meaning of life in ToK, or just engaging in discussion with our friends in this international school. Everyone does it, teachers, students, and the administration. We talk, and when it’s diplomatic enough, we arrive at a solution. That is what the UN is, and to an extent, our school as well.
So as the celebrations of this week come to an end today, keep in mind that nothing is perfect including the UN, but that doesn’t give us the right, as a global society, to not try and achieve perfection --- and along with it world peace.
Thank You |
Our School 
