Grade 11 student Shakeer Ahmed (pictured) didn’t believe the news when his friend called to tell him he had been selected as the Secretary General of one of the most prestigious THIMUN (The Hague International Model United Nations) conferences in the world. “I guess I didn’t believe it at first because, although leading a conference had been a longtime ambition, I thought I would get a deputy assignment at best,” Ahmed said.
Shakeer’s doubts were well justified as the Singapore THIMUN Conference had never chosen a student from a non-host school to hold its highest office. Cameron Janzen, Director of THIMUN Qatar, said of the appointment, “I think maybe [the THIMUN Singapore board] just wanted a fresh perspective and a different style of leadership when they elected Shakeer.”
He continues: “I think the board is also moving towards a more merit-based appointment process,” which opened the doors to a lot of students outside of the most prestigious schools in Southeast Asia.
“In my application letter, I think I gave a good image of myself as a well-rounded leader in that I was willing to work for the THIMUN Board but also with my own team – and my resume could back that up,” states Shakeer, whose resume includes five years in the MUN programme at Qatar Academy, three years on the debate team, and an appointment to the executive staff at the first annual Qatar Leadership Conference, hosted at QNCC in the fall of last year.
By the time Shakeer, who was born in Bangladesh, reached Qatar Academy he had lived in Japan, Ukraine, Turkey and the UAE. “I think my biggest challenge for the conference will be conducting executive team meetings with students from all over the world,” concludes Shakeer.The Peninsula
