Interview of the Deputy Secretary General

Interviewing the Deputy President of the General Assembly, Stella Tsantekidou 

By Achilleas Vrantzas 
 

So Stella… your farewell MUN, what do you think about it?

Oh well, we have been preparing for a year now. This is the result of all the hard work that we have been doing for all these past months and I sincerely couldn’t have been more excited!

       That’s great! So tell me, in how many MUNs have you participated and in which ones?

This will be my 10^th Model United Nations conference. I have participated in several Anatolia College Model United Nations as well as Thessaloniki MUNs but I have also participated in the Deutsche Schule Athens MUN, in the JMUN and the Harvard MUN.

In what ways have they helped you during all those years?

First of all, they helped me to find myself, they helped me to find the self-confidence that teenagers usually lack, they have changed my personal beliefs, my political beliefs, they have helped me in deciding what kind of career I want to pursue and they even helped me to make the decision to study to the IB program instead of the Greek High School.

Great! Are you going to continue being involved in any MUN in the future?

Of course! I don’t believe that such a huge part of my life can be abandoned as easily as that.

Where are you going to study?

I have been accepted by the University of Kent and I am very happy about that. Although I haven’t received answers from all the universities that I have applied I will most probably choose to go to the United Kingdom.

Do you think that you will have opportunities there to participate in MUNs?

I hope so!

Alright! Could you tell me what your position is in this year’s MUN?

In this year’s Model United Nations I am the Deputy President of the General Assembly. First of all, I am chairing the GA along with my Co-Chair President of the General Assembly, Zacharias Papazachariou. I should also mention that since ACMUN is a student-run conference, the organizing committee and the Secretariat who are the seniors members of the organizing committee are the ones who have to organize everything along with our advisor of the MUN Mr. Pieter Derluyn. You should know that whatever you see here is the result of the work that has been done by the organizing committee.

Congratulations to all of you. I want to ask you, having participated as a delegate, as a chair and as a member of the Secretariat, which of all of them did you enjoy the most?

Well, first of all let me tell you that MUN is a journey and as with all journeys it has many places through which you must pass to reach your final destination. When I began participating in the MUN I had no idea that I would reach the level that I am at right now. I believe that each position has its own charm. I have thoroughly enjoyed all the positions I have been given but I have to say that there is nothing more fulfilling than looking at the conference and saying “Ok! This, is partly mine!”.

If you had to go back to all the MUNs that you have participated in, which one would you consider the best?

My first one, DSAMUN. I was 15 years old back then, I had never been to another MUN, and I was sent to Athens. I was an ambassador in the political committee, which is quite a difficult position for a first timer but, you know, the people I met there, the friendships I have made, the way the chairs and advisors helped me and the way I co-operated with my fellow delegates was what ultimately made me believe that I should continue participating in the MUN.

Thank you for your time Stella, I hope that you enjoy this experience!

Thank you!