On April 1st, I sat for one of the most important interviews I ever have. One that I have looked forward to for 3 years now. I have always wanted to be Secretary General of a conference as I have been into MUN since 2017. It has always been a dream and now, finally I have made it. The interview was with Dr. Lundin and Ms. McQuillan. It was nerve-racking and more so challenging. The questions asked were not simple and had an aspect of critical thinking in all of them. [LO1, LO2, LO3] I knew one thing throughout, which was the fact that I have had a lot of experience in the world of COMUN that any other potential for the position wouldn’t have. I had been a delegate in 2019. A chair in 2020, a member of the Secretariat in 2021 [LO4] and I have seen all sides of COMUN. The good, the bad and the ugly and through that all, I can say one thing that I had a lot to change. I took many of them down like so:

The most memorable question that was asked was “What in your eyes is the biggest problem faced by the EXCO every year?” and I knew the answer immediately. It is meeting deadlines and staying organised and on track. There are a few things that are important here. One Is leadership and the other is communication. Asking EXCO members about their schedule is just as important before setting a deadline because many times around important dates, people have exams or other commitments and as Secretary General It is important to be mindful of that.[LO7]

 

After officially getting the position. I immediately started the Secretariat recruiting process because Dr. Lundin and I both thought, having the Secretariat ready before summer was a crucial step to being organised for conference next year. I recruited the first member of the Secretariat (Dhanika Nawinne from BSC) from last year’s EXCO as I was confident in his management and debating skills. Dr. Lundin and I conducted an Interview with him and decided he was best suited for the role. After doing so, I worked on the COMUN constitution and Secretariat application forms [LO3] and you can see them on the COMUN website: http://osc.lk/comun/index.html.

I officially introduced myself to the Faculty Advisors and began the interview process. Here is a snippet from the interviews:

The interview process was interesting and equally new. I had done the interviews last year as well and I knew what to ask and what to look for but yet it is a new thing every time. It is nerve wracking but also an experience in itself. I conducted and chaired these interviews with the help of Dhanika [LO5] who interviewed prior to this and who will be the President of General Assemblies for COMUN 2022. The positions open were Head of Administration and Under Secretary General. Dr. Lundin and I wanted the Head of operations to be from OSC  in order to maintain a direct link with the business office hence, we chose Saesha (DP1) to fill that role.

The Secretariat being formed so early on, was a huge success on our part because we gave ourselves the whole summer to plan and improve on our plan for next year. It also gives us a window to open the EXCO applications and to make sure that we are on track with informing the necessary people about that. [LO3, LO5 & LO7]

 

The final Secretariat members are:

 

Shaheen Abdul Gani (Gateway College Dehiwala)- Under Secretary General

Dhanika Nawinne (British School in Colombo)- President of General Assemblies

David Maurice (American International School)- Head of Administration

Saesha Sampat (The Overseas School of Colombo)- Head of Operations

I am beyond excited to work with these amazingly talented people. I look forward to COMUN 2022 with positivity and optimism.