Three months later, when Aparna travelled to Spain, she was convinced that the MIR experience and the IE platform could help her develop further her idea. Here, she met another student from the MIR program, Sara Barragán Montes. Even though they came from completely different backgrounds, both share the same values, and decided to work together to formalize Ansuya and design a sustainable organization with a durable social impact based on both their experiences.

Ansuya is still a work in progress, but it is on the right path. The proof of this is that it won third place among 13 great social business ideas presented during the IE Impact Weekend, a contest organized by IE Net Impact Club along with IE Entrepreneurship Club, Venture Lab, Area 31, Emzingo and the HUB Madrid. The entire weekend involved a lot of hard work, but it was an experience that allowed Aparna and Sara to receive valuable feedback from other IE students, the judges and their mentor, Pablo Esteves from Emzingo.

As IE\\\\\\\'s Master of International Relation\\\\\\\'s Delegation, we were 10 students in attendance that represented 7 UN Member States different from our own countries of origin or residence, and as a result we were provided with an enriching opportunity to open our eyes to worldviews different from our own. This year, the IE Delegation represented Chile in DISEC, France in UNHRC, France in the WTO, France in UNEP, Brazil in CELAC (in the Spanish Committee), Cuba in SOCHUM, Cuba in SPECPOL, Algeria in AU, Malaysia in UNDP, and Austria in the EU French Speaking Committee. Within each of the committees, we each worked on Committee specific goals and resolutions trying to collaboratively find a solution for a better future, regardless of our backgrounds. 

These fun-filled, but busy and jam-packed three days consisted of small and large events that certainly proved very demanding, but the LIMUN conference with all its preparatory phases, learning opportunities, and newly formed friendships was undoubtedly an unforgettable experience. LIMUN provided us a foresight into learning how the \\\\\\\"real\\\\\\\" UN Committees function typically. Throughout the conference we were allotted bountiful learning opportunities to practice our negotiation skills that at best resulted in cooperation, but at times did not always work out in spite of concerted efforts.  Throughout the weekend, we took on the role of world leaders and worked together to find solutions to our world\\\\\\\'s most pressing international issues. LIMUN not only proved to be a great venue to gain hands-on practice for future young global leaders, but it provided the opportunity for us to critically think of solutions for real-world challenges.

One delegate from IE University, Naushita Jesing (MIR 2013) from Mumbai, India described her experience within her LIMUN Committee:

\\\\\\\"In my UNEP Committee I represented Bangladesh, and after we compiled together two working papers within our committee, we were able to find many overlapping features between the two papers.  Using these common themes, we drafted a resolution on \\\\\\\'the effects of genetically modified crops on biodiversity\\\\\\\' and submitted it to the General Assembly. Since it was understood that most delegates had \\\\\\\'the same vision about GMCs\\\\\\\', countries pleaded for the draft resolution \\\\\\\'to be passed swiftly by all delegates\\\\\\\' but welcomed input from those who wished to \\\\\\\'discuss and make amendments,\\\\\\\' and a final vote was held on Sunday which resulted in a passed resolution after three long days of negotiations.\\\\\\\"

Not only was LIMUN an enriching experience for IE\\\\\\\'s delegation, but we also honored with the opportunity to meet with Spanish Ambassador in London, Ambassador Federico Trillo-Figueroa. He generously welcomed us into his home, and not only did he dedicate two hours of his time to us, but he also gave us a tour of his lovely home. 

All in all, we are incredibly lucky to have had such a wonderful experience at LIMUN, with Ambassador Trillo-Figueroa, and also to simply have had the wonderful opportunity to tour London!

When addressing the audience, Dr. Mousavian was clear to underline that, in his opinion, the central problem in Iran/Western relations was mutual mistrust. He is certain that Iran would be more cooperative if the West 1) lifted sanctions 2) respected Iran’s rights as detailed in the non-proliferation treaty and 3) spoke to Iran with respect as opposed to condescension.  He also claimed that the real problem with Iran was political and that the bomb and enrichment were distractions and excuses. He asserted that Western sanctions were 100% counterproductive and only made Iran more keen to enrich. Dr. Mousavian said that tension with Iran was only at the regime level and that the Iranian people was open to dialogue with the West.

The floor had many questions for Dr. Mousavian. One question related to the current US administration and whether Obama had proved any different from Bush, a known hardliner with Iran. Dr. Mousavian answered that even though Obama was full of good intentions, he did not represent all American interests. In fact, the US position had become even tougher regardless of the Iranian regime in power. A Master in International Relations student asked him if Iran was doing anything to communicate directly with the American people in order to change public opinion and improve Iran’s image abroad. Dr. Mousavian admitted that Iran’s PR was weak and that more could be done to reach out to normal citizens. He, however, commented that there was a lot of resistance from Western nations to communicate openly, hence the importance of speaker series such as the Iran Dialogues, co-organized by IE, CIDOB and CITpax.