The Actual Thing - by Mo and Nakita, Year 9
As well as being an extremely engaging and stimulating event, it was also incredibly enjoyable and definitely a unique and rewarding experience. There, we were separated into 3 groups which each represented one country seeking entrance into the EU. These countries were North Macedonia, Kosovo and Montenegro. Mo and I were assigned North Macedonia, and were presented with a list of both internal and external factors that we had to overcome in order to seem as a more suitable candidate to be accepted into the EU. The scenario was extremely realistic and the countries, as well as their issues, were a reflection of what is happening in the real world.
The different countries had their own issues unique to them, and for us some of the issues included a veto, high rates of organised crime and corruption. Through group discussion as a country, we worked towards solving these issues: we imposed an ICAC, changed our constitution to appease Bulgaria’s demands and formed an agreement with other countries to help with the crime. Some people in the group were randomly assigned roles as Ministers - they had a specific role they had to play and had a certain opinion they had to follow(one minister was even corrupt!). Alongside solving our problems by implementing certain practices and/or laws in our country, we were also able to negotiate and discuss matters with other countries in person by sending out two representatives.
At the end of the summit, it was announced that North Macedonia was the country that had gained entrance into the EU, though we were not that surprised as nearing the end it felt as if the other two countries had lost sight of what the real goal(entrance into the EU) was, and were sidetracked by the numerous other global issues the seminar ended up throwing at us. Despite the victory, our group definitely would not have made it if it were not for our excellent citizenship, collaboration and character - Mo will go further into these skills and how it helped us win.
Nakita was assigned as Minister of Defence, however, that did not make her opinion any more valued or important in the discussions that we had when brainstorming solutions to the problems presented to us and everyone was seen as equals in the discussions, though most of us did have some distrust in a few that we believed to be corrupt. Communication and collaboration was key in this seminar. Everyone's contributions lead to overall very efficient teamwork. The pace in which we got through our assigned problems required strong character and communication skills from everyone involved. In instances where the group didn't agree on a solution, we would take measures to resolve it in a fair manner, which led to a voting system. It was important that all members' opinions were heard, and we made sure that it was executed in a fair and quick way.
This summit was a really great way for us to demonstrate our citizenship and work collaboratively, as we realised that though none of what we did affected what was happening in the real world, our individual contributions to our group, when put all together, made all the difference and helped us gain entrance into the EU. One of the major points that led to our entrance was a partnership and peace treaty that we made with a few countries already in the EU, which was something that Nakita and I were in charge of discussing with the respective countries. Without this, we might not have been able to gain entrance into the EU. One of our groups main objectives was to look like a fully put together nation, in order to appeal to the EU. This of course came with many challenges, as our country happened to have high crime rates. We completed this issue by increasing our police force numbers, as well as acquiring the help of our German allies, to help fight against the crime rates. All of our combined efforts and ideas, lead to an overall appealing country to the EU, which showed that we cared deeply about improving the conditions of our citizens.
