Hi! I am Bautista Martínez, a senior at The British Schools of Montevideo. Alongside Agustín, I have the honor of being your Secretary-General for this VIII edition of LAMUN. After having to cancel in 2020 and switching to online last year, I am thrilled we can finally host our local delegates in person and hope we can invite all participants to our campus next year. 

 

My MUN journey began three years ago when shy little me first tested the MUN waters at CMUN 2019. It was a truly momentous experience, which, although terrifying at the time (I was unanimously voted “ghost delegate”), helped me come to the conclusion that this was something I wanted to pursue. And that I did: I have since participated in over ten conferences, five of which I was chair, and each one made me love Model UN even more. The rush of standing in front of the committee for a zealous speech, the laughs with your MUN friends during lunch break, and even the late nights drafting resolutions (of which there were many) cemented my love for debate and collaboration between people of different backgrounds. 

 

Now, I am Co-President of The British Schools’ MUN Club, which helped me put all of what I have learned to the test: not only did I have to know how MUN worked, but I had to be capable of transmitting this to others. This and myriad other administrative tasks I was not acquainted with were quickly thrown into my plate, and if it were not for my amazing colleagues, I could not have managed to push through it. Alongside MUN, I am also Head of Management of the school’s newspaper and participate in the Math Olympiad Club. Outside of school, I enjoy swimming, reading, and endlessly scrolling through TikTok (I mean, who doesn’t?).

 

As Co-Secretary-General, I intend to make this conference as inclusive as possible, a task we have already begun by including issues such as transgender rights and female domestic violence, but hope to expand to all aspects of the conference further down the road. I also pledge to try my best for every single participant to enjoy the conference and be provided with a safe space to develop their voice, as I am a strong advocate for teenage participation in their communities, and MUN is the perfect place to become empowered enough to make a change in this world. We also hope to slowly fight back the impacts of COVID in MUN, for it has reduced, if not halted entirely, many of the things that made the MUN experience so unique. 

 

Well, enough about me. I hope you enjoy this conference as much as I enjoyed organizing it. I am so proud of the MUN community for the perseverance it has shown during these turbulent times, and I hope each and every one of you brings that same passion to LAMUN 2022. See you in April!