Photo courtesy of Heather Algiere
The Model United Nations (UN) club traveled to UNC-Chapel Hill to participate in the Carolina International Relations Association’s annual conference (CIRA) from Feb. 21 to Feb. 24.
Model UN gives students the opportunity to experience and actively participate in a simulation of a United Nations meeting at a conference with other high schools across North Carolina. The club’s motives include teaching students to collaborate and communicate ideas with others as well as gaining public speaking skills and international political knowledge.
Original founder of Northwood’s Model UN, junior Alexa Simeonsson, started the club just two years ago.
“My dad was in Model UN in high school,” Simeonsson said. “He really influenced me to start the club. Our first year was really small—it was sort of a test run. This year, the turnout was much bigger.”
Although Model UN is still far from being the largest club on campus, leaders and members, including one of the five leaders of Model UN, junior Abby Goyea, are very happy with their growth since last year.
“Last year we only had five people go the conference, and this year our club has grown so much,” Goyea said. “We had 17 delegates at the conference this year, which is amazing.”
With many newcomers, Model UN had students participating and representing many different committees at the conference. Freshman Daniel Gallagher represented Saudi Arabia in the UN Women’s Council and won the “Most Outstanding Delegate” award, the club’s first ever award.
“I was very vocal about what Saudi Arabia believes when it comes to women’s rights and wasn’t afraid to call out other countries, too,” Gallagher said. “To prepare, it took a lot of time. My partner [Zyon Verinder] and I were researching nonstop.”
The multi-month process is all in preparation for the conference. Students dedicate time to researching their committee’s position before debating and representing their country.
“We sign up for the conference as a school,” said senior Delaney Galvin, one of the club’s leaders. “You get to [decide] what your school wants to compete in, whether it’s a General Assembly, which is a larger committee, or a Crisis Committee, which is smaller and more complex. They give us certain countries and the committees that we’re assigned. Members of the club pick what they want to do, and from there, it’s just researching the country and stance that you’re given. It’s a pretty independent project in terms of preparation.”
Some members of Model UN were surprised by the environment of the competition.
“I expected the competition to be very quiet, very serious, neat and not particularly fun, but it was the complete opposite,” sophomore August Russell said. “It was the most fun I’ve had in a long time.”
The vulnerability that comes with debating a topic that doesn’t usually apply to one can trigger mixed emotions, but club members were satisfied with their performance.
“I was really nervous,” sophomore Alex Bean said. “I had prepared a lot for it and was still unsure, but when I got there, I saw that it was all worth it.”
The conference turned out to be a success, and the club returned feeling proud of their performance as a whole.
“I’m very proud of the way this group presented themselves at this conference and how prepared and eloquent everyone was,” Goyea said.
Members grew close during the preparation leading up to the conference as well as during the event itself, and they learned important life skills along the way.
“I think it’s really cool to create resolutions because we’re doing what the actual UN does,” sophomore Ande Richardson said. “It’s really interesting to learn about how the process actually works and how you can be apart of it. We’re all really close now—it’s like a family. We really work as a team and figure things out together.”
– By Grace Lake
