Jop Rang — “MUNs are a breeding ground for those who want to succeed in life”
Our guest today is Jop Rang, an MUNer from the Netherlands and one of the brightest MUN talents in the community. He serves as a deputy Secretary General of LmunA MUN in Arnhem. Jop is one of the most active members and contributors at MUNPlanet, and the first high school student to be interviewed for Fridays With MUNPlanet. We asked Jop about this MUN beginnings, experiences and how he sees this inspiring and exciting activity in the years to come. Read the interview which truly inspires.
MUNPlanet: How did you get introduced into the world of MUNs?
Jop: As a kid, I have always been interested in learning more about the world we live in. Reading up on everything there was to find on subjects like foreign cultures, interesting political issues, world news and things such as science and technological advancements, I quickly became more and more interested in international affairs. When the time came to choose at what high school I would be spending the next six years of my life, the decision was quickly made. Located in the city of Arnhem, one of the few Dutch ‘Internationally focused’ high schools was making way to receiving my undivided interest. This extraordinary school offers its students the ability to participate in its difficult but prestigious bilingual program, granting its students the ability to learn English, to travel abroad and to participate in the world of MUN.
As I enrolled in the bilingual program, I quickly came to realize that learning English was not going to be as easy as I thought. Struggling through my first two years of the bilingual program, I finally started to become more and more fluent in the language we as MUNers all aspire towards. Only in the fourth year of my high school course did I get in contact with the wonderful world of MUN. As I was having a conversation with a good friend of mine, he brought up the topic of MUNs. As I was not yet familiar with the world of MUN, he explained to me that our own school was organizing the LmunA — Lorentz Model United Nations Arnhem conference and that the organizing committee was one man short.
After having had my first glimpse at what MUNs would mean to me and my interests in international affairs, I was quick to fill up this proposed position and to participate in my very first MUN. Looking back at that moment I can now say that that conversation has changed my life in a very, very good way!
MUNPlanet: What does MUN mean to you?
Jop: As said before, I have always had a great interest in what goes on around the world. With MUNs being one of the few places to meet international students, sharing your global perspective is what to me counts as one of the greatest qualities of MUN.
Furthermore, what I personally love about both organizing and participating in MUNs is the ability to expand my skillset. When I first joined the MUN team I was clueless about the workings of the United Nations, the organizing of events and public speaking. Because I started as an MUN organizer, I quickly learned the workings of the organizational structure within an MUN organizing committee. I got to witness how a large group of people, all with their own qualities and tasks, worked together to solve problems and successfully organize an MUN and was able to learn great things from both my fellow organizers and MUN directors.
When I later started participating in MUNs as a delegate, notions such as research reports, resolutions, committees, chairs, delegations and rules of procedures were all vague to me. Again, with the help of the MUN community, granting the ability to witness all these things first hand, I quickly expanded my knowledge and skill set and was able to know and do all these things in no time.
Overall, I believe that the meaning of MUN is very two sided. On the one side you have the social perspective of an MUN. Being able to meet new people, get in contact with new cultures, visit new countries and best of all make new friends is what I love about MUNs. On the other hand, the expansion of your knowledge on both international relations and the workings of the UN and being able to learn and practice skills such as public speaking and the writing of a research report is what to me make MUNs utterly superb.
