As of the writing of this article, there are 152 active members of the TCS MUN club, with 20-40 of them going to each model at other schools several times every year.

With these students putting so much time and effort into these models, it begs the question of whether they are gaining anything from all of this. A Pew Research Center study, are better at public speaking, negotiation, critical thinking, and teamwork compared to similar students who didn’t participate in MUN.

“The main ability is public speaking, there are many people who struggle with this and it is very important for many careers, that is the first main lesson, and the second one is soft skills, being able to debate and give arguments in a logical manner and persuading a public of something,” Santiago Ramos, Top Secretary General of COSMUN and Former President of the TCS MUN club, said.

Furthermore, before attending a model, delegates have to complete a document called a “portfolio,” which includes information about their country, the topic, and their country’s position on the topic. This requires extensive research and preparation.

“It is very clear at the time of the committee which delegates prepared and which didn’t, with the statistics they bring, the arguments they make to the committee,” Santiago Lopez, President of the Colombian Senate for 3 at COSMUN for 3 years, said.

Aside from both the hard and soft skills they learn, by researching so much about the current situation in so many global issues as well as all of their context and history, in many cases going as far back as the 1940s, students are prepared with a large amount of knowledge about the world.

“I feel like it prepares them by having an education in what is happening in the world since there are a lot of people who don’t know about diplomatic, economic, or geographic topics,” Ramos said.

In addition, in addition to being a delegate, students with experience in MUN can become presidents in their committees, where they can even further hone their research skills while also developing new abilities such as leadership and how to manage a large group of people.

“Leadership roles like the president differ from the ones of the delegate because the president not only needs to be informed about the topic but also be able to follow the committee as it is a very operational and logistical function. So knowledge of the committee is very important,” Lopez said.

Overall, by participating in MUN students get to simultaneously develop their soft and social skills, become better orators, improve their persuasion skills, and hone their research skills.

“The main ability is public speaking, there are many people who struggle with this and it is very important for many careers, and the second one is soft skills, being able to debate and give arguments in a logical manner and persuading a public of something, something applicable to all careers,” Ramos said.