Sciences Pistes Model United Nations: Menton à Reims

It all started on a Thursday morning — at the crack of dawn to be exact — when around 40 Sciences Pistes walked across Menton to reach the bus that would take them to the first intercampus event in two years.

In reality, preparations for the SPMUN conference had started back in August when MEDMUN Secretariat leaders members Celeste Abourjeili, Florian Heydecker and Basile Rochet collaborated with RIMUN executives to organize and give life to this initiative. It took months of work for this event to come together, but in the end, everyone agreed that not only was it worth the work, but that it was one of the highlights of the semester.

The Mentonese spirit was alive even at 5 a.m. waiting for Michel the bus driver to pick us up. Even though some of us had to walk for almost half an hour to get to the pick-up spot, and we were about to experience a 14-hour bus ride across the country, the vibes were immaculate. The bus ride had long cig breaks, numerous snack stops, and top notch music.

Several pauses later, we reached frosty, cold and foggy Reims. The regal town looked intimidating and captivating from the moment we stepped off the bus. The fog, the champagne, the fancy buildings, the cathedrals… walking through the city was a different experience — a lovely change of scenery after many months in our cozy Menton.

Our hosts were lovely, having filled entire living rooms with blankets and mattresses for us. They even showed us around and took us for late night kebabs, as the Mentonese were hungry (the gas station pasta boxes proved to not be very filling).

The next day, everyone was dressed fancy and chic: it was time for the opening ceremony. By far outnumbering the other campuses, and making much more noise than everyone else, the Mentonese were ready to start the conference. We applauded our secretary general and our chairs; we listened to interesting points by different guest speakers on the current climate crisis and COP26. Then it was time for the most important part of the conference: the club. The ride there was long and we were late, but nevertheless we all got drunk together and had a wonderful time, with good music and lovely people.

Day two of the conference was equally interesting: with everyone going to their committees, the debates officially began. From meat industry shenanigans to fishing incidents, each committee was special. The Menton campus had a very strong presence in UNEP, ECOSOC, Security Council, the Brazilian Amazon Crisis, the American Meat Industry, and much more.

The conference ended with a loud bang in the form of another 14-hour bus ride, from the north to the south of France this time. We were all extremely happy, satisfied by unforgettable memories of the royal town near Champagne. We made strong impressions in each committee’s debate, and left with the winners’ champagne bottles and congratulations wishes. We got to know brilliant people from all Sciences Po campuses and invited them to our own MEDMUN conference in Menton, which will take place in April. We look forward to these experiences so much and hope to make it the best time for all staffers and participants.

- Angeliki Vytogianni