Conference Highlights: WarMUN

TeamLSE ended 2022 with a bang at our last conference of the year, WarMUN, with a strong delegation of over 30 delegates! But besides the outstanding performance of TeamLSE in committee sessions, the conference also brought our team even closer together with new memories to last a lifetime. 

Our trip from London to Warwick started at Euston station where TeamLSE caught a train up to the Midlands together with a short connection in Rugby. Aware the of challenges lying ahead, some delegates took the opportunity to have a brief nap before the next three days of intense debate and negotiation; this didn’t go unnoticed by fellow delegates who were keen to take a selfie with them in the true spirit of friendship (and slight teasing!). 

Once arriving at our hotels in Coventry, we had a quick turnaround to get changed into our diplomatic (and fashionably red) attire ready for our first day of the conference and hop on a bus down to the University of Warwick’s beautiful campus. Although, some of our delegates had just enough time to have a bit of sightseeing on the way to the hotel, briefly admiring sites such as Coventry Cathedral, with Arjun serving as an impromptu tour guide. 

Upon arriving at the opening ceremony, in true TeamLSE style, we swiftly turned an entire wing of the theatre red with our delegation who were raring to go, albeit only for a couple of hours on the first day. Many TeamLSE delegates also took the chance to reconnect with familiar faces from other universities who we had met in previous conferences; a reminder of how interconnected the UK MUN circuit can be at times. 

After an evening with the committees, a number of social events took place within TeamLSE; from a relaxed evening in the Ramada Hotel to a night of clubbing in Leamington Spa (breaking the widely spread rumour of a TeamLSE curfew), there was a lot going on to celebrate our first successful day at WarMUN! But if one thing is certain after WarMUN, if an award for the delegation with the best moves, TeamLSE would have won it by a mile! 

Of course, with a Pret on-site at The University of Warwick, we all needed a bit of a caffeine boost before our first session of the day. However, our extremely lucky delegates also had our TeamLSE advisors on hand to deliver chocolate and even more drinks from Pret right to their desks to keep them going at full steam ahead. During the break, we also came together as a team to have lunch at the Student Union pub to grab a well-deserved bite to eat, and to talk about our progress in our respective committees. 

To finish off the day, we all gathered at the Ramada hotel to have dinner there as the hotel prepared a curry buffet especially for TeamLSE which proved to be a massive hit! Soon after, we all gathered downstairs for a quick game of Paranoia, a fun quiz organised by the UNSOC leadership team, and some storytelling with a cup of hot chocolate. Towards the end of the night, we all crammed ourselves into a hotel room after being moved on from the hotel conference area, where the much-anticipated results of the superlatives and gossip box were announced! 

But of course, we must also take a moment to recognise the impressive achievements of our TeamLSE delegates. At the closing ceremony it was heartening to see all of our hard work as a team pay off, with TeamLSE bagging awards committee after committee; and to hear the exuberant applause for our peers each time a member of our team was called. Between the awards, however, many delegates indulged themselves in a game of Closing Ceremony Bingo, keeping an eye out for all our favourite MUN clichés. Before we made our way back to London, we had time for a few closing remarks from the UNSOC President, Navin, and the rest of the MUN leaders, as well as a quick photoshoot and Instagram story to finish off the day. 

Finally, we would like to once again recognise all the hard work from our TeamLSE delegates, with special mentions to: 

Avan Fata: DISEC: Best Delegate Award

Zofia Gimblett: DISEC: Verbal Commendation 

Victoria Rebok: DISEC: Verbal Commendation

 Zachary Perez Jones: Verbal Commendation 

Advait Kuravi: UNODC: Most Improved 

Daniel Piper: UNODC: Verbal Commendation 

Harry Duffy: IMF: Best Delegate Award 

Joseph Taylor-Livesey: UNSC: Best Delegate Award

Mollie McGowan: Crisis: Best Delegate Award

Kin Hei Kenneth Choi: OHCHR: Best Delegate Award

Maud Beidas: OHCHR: Verbal Commendation 

Anoushka Tripathi Joshi: WHO: Honourable Mention

Zachary Perez Jones