In secondary school, I was always told that what mattered the most for future success (like getting into a good university) was excelling on the standard exams. While this is undoubtedly important, now that I have successfully gotten a BA from an Ivy League university as well as an MA in my chosen field from King’s College London, I realise that in fact there was another key factor in those academic successes: my determination to pursue, and make the most out of, my passions.
My passion, since age 12, has been Model UN. At first, both my parents and teachers saw this as a distraction from my school work but allowed me to continue anyway. What we soon realised was that the skills and knowledge I was gaining from this activity, were in fact, enhancing not only my schoolwork, but my self-confidence, organisational skills, and general abilities. Model UN, is, of course, quite an intellectual activity.
You are assigned to represent a country, research related international relations issue, write UN-style resolutions to solve the problem you’re given, then convince your peers to agree with you. Beyond the basics of being able to locate obscure countries on world maps or learn the nuances of particular treaties, what Model UN really taught me was how to pursue goals independently, how to organise competing demands on my time, how to write precisely and concisely, how to creatively problem solve, how to work with my peers, and how to speak confidently in public, all skills which I have since used in my academic career, including to get into university.
In addition, because Model UN was something I chose for myself, pursued of my own initiative, and proved I could handle on top of my academics because of my passion and love for the activity, it became something I committed to, thus solidifying all those great skills I just listed. Model UN gave me a reason to apply to Ivy League universities, because of their own MUN organisations that I wanted to contribute to. My passion for the activity had lead me to seek out organisational and leadership positions that otherwise I may not have pushed myself to pursue, which in turn made me stand out from my peers both in my university applications and in my university career.
I strongly believe that Model UN can do great things for nearly all students. But the real take-away here is that finding what you’re passionate about and working to get the most out of it is not only what sets you apart, but also how you can learn skills that you can then apply to your schoolwork and beyond. Whether what you really care about is sport, arts, activism, or even video games, pushing yourself to try as many different aspects of your passion, and develop every possible skillset related to it will undoubtedly help you understand your own strengths and weaknesses, set you apart from your peers, and help you forge a future you can be excited about.
By Miranda M, Yale University graduate and private tutor in History, politics, English and Mandarin. Interested in arranging a lesson with a 1 to 1 home tutor? Contact Us today.