UNS — Not everyone is easy to find his/her passions then takes it seriously. However, for one student of International Relations, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP), Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta, Muflih Dwi Fikri, proves that the passion that will be occupied seriously will turn into achievement.
As an International Relations’ student, communicating and practicing diplomacy are common thing to Fikri. He immediately practiced the knowledge that was learned in college by joining various kinds of activities related to Model United Nations (MUN), a simulation of an international session with representatives of various countries in the world.
In June 3, 2019, Fikri won an award for The Most Outstanding Delegates at the Paris International Model United Nations, a diplomacy competition and a negotiation simulation in the form of a meeting held by UN. The competition took place in Paris, France.
“I happened to get a chance to represent the United States of America in the Chamber Social Culture and Humanitarian (SOCHUM) discussing The Minorities Right With Special Emphasis to Uighur Muslims,” Fikri said when was interviewed.
In that event, which was attended by more than 500 delegates from 34 countries, he received the award “The Most Outstanding Delegates” which was equivalent to the rank 2 or Runner Up. Fikri was the only Indonesian delegation that won an award at the event.
His interest in MUN started from the first time when he became an International Relations’ new student. Then, after receiving an award from his participation in MUN, he continued to attend similar events in different places in the future.
He has attended no less than 10 MUN events since 2017, both domestically and abroad, including the IRC MUN 2017, Sudirman MUN 2017, Surakarta International MUN 2017, Justicia MUN 2018, Abirama MASEAN 2018 , MUN Humanities in 2018, Smala MUN in 2019, ITB MUN 2019, SE MUN in 2019, Padjajaran MUN in 2019, and Paris International MUN in 2019.
From all MUN events above, Fikri won several awards, such as: becaming The Most Ostanding Delegate in Surakarta International Model United Nations in 2017, Justicia MUN in 2018, and ABIRAMA Model United Nations in 2018
“As an International Relations’ student, of course by participating in the Model United Nations program, my diplomatic and negotiating skills have increased. I have also been constantly updated with the development of international issues, then I also learned writing and drafting policies,” Fikri who was born on March 20, 1999, explained.
According to Fikri, his participation in the Paris International MUN has its own challenges. The larger number of participants and from various countries made the atmosphere more competitive, the standard of assessment set by the committee was also higher. Besides, in Paris he found language barriers, because participants coming from various countries participant accents became difficult to understand.
“Following various MUN events made me meet many people who inspired me to be better. I also understood the development of international issues from various countries in the world. My experience and knowledge of the world of diplomacy and international issues will hopefully be the provision to achieve my aspirations in the future,” Fikri who aspires to become the UN General Secretary added.