Corridor Chronicles: Who are the Admin Behind the Committees?
By Jina Song
Photography by Anna Plunkett
Guardians of the door, passer of notes, and walking GPS of the World Forum—these are just a few of the roles admin take on. Flaunting an “all access” ID allowing them to roam through the World Forum, admins are essentially the motors of each committee.
The Head of Admin
Most admins are from schools near The Hague. According to Tollo Wachira, Head of Admin, the process involved preparation since last June. Tollo’s responsibility involves ensuring that “all the admins are doing what they are supposed to.” After an intensive training session, Tollo remarked that “things are mostly going smoothly” throughout notepassing, security, screening, and the voting procedure. Tollo’s school had its own conference in November, prepping him for his responsibility. For Tollo, the most challenging aspect of leading admins is “balancing when we have fun and actually work. We need to make sure we can ensure they are respectful.”
Teun Slee, Deputy Head of Admin explains, “My favorite part about THIMUN is that I get to boss these kids around.” As a Deputy Head of Admin, he has to ensure that “all these guys do their jobs well.” So far, Teun is proud that his “guys are all doing great. Nothing’s gone wrong so far.”
Veteran Admins
THIMUN 2025 is the third year Giulia Mignolo and Lilly Schwarz have been an admin. “It’s definitely a good networking experience with people outside of our country,” said Lilly. “You always stay in touch with the people you see at THIMUN. You’ll always be connected in one way or another.” Giulia says that exchanging Instagram is the main mode of THIMUN friendship building. “Last year, we made a big group chat with all the people we passed notes to,” added Giulia. For Guilia and Lilly, the last three years of experience have made this conference “more relaxed and open for fun.”
What’s your favorite part about being an admin?
Numerous admins came from the Rijnlands Lyceum Wassenaar in The Hague. Most were first-time admins. For Jasper Boele, “Seeing all the delegates, and all the people was very nice.” Floris ter Haar explained that his favorite aspect of being an admin is to “help people and do different tasks every day.” With a rotational schedule for security, note passing, and technology management, the admins can experience different aspects of the process. Despite having no previous MUN experience, working as an admin has become a routine for Floris. Being an admin at THIMUN was Wahib Amoukal’s first MUN experience. For Steijn Blom, a first-time admin, the experience was “really fun, especially when making new friends.” Unlike a delegate, admins hold the freedom to roam and use personal pronouns.
Doing Nothing or Holding Power? Admins say they have both.
For Floris ter Haar, the hardest part of being an admin is that “you need to stand around all day” and that the day is “really really long.” While most admins were opinionated about their admin duties, Nicholas Stretton remarked that “nothing” is hard so far. As someone who relishes peace, Nicholas says he likes “standing next to the chair to have some chill time.” For Karel Huygen, “getting to control the people who aren’t an admin” is his favorite part about his role. If delegates are not allowed to enter the committee room, the admin wields the power to send them away. While some moments might lapse into seeming nothingness, admins serve as a cornerstone of each committee. As they run back and forth between the scenes, admins form the backbone of THIMUN. Whether managing security to passing notes, their work ensures the conference flows smoothly—one task at a time.
