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![“When I came into high school, I was ready to be a follower. But DECA was a game changer for me. It helped me overcome my fear of public speaking, and it's played such a major role in who I've become today. To be able to successfully lead a chapter of 150 students, an officer team and be one of the upperclassmen I once really admired is something I'm [really] proud of,” Anvitha Tummala ('21) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
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Students visit Stanford University for MUN conference
Delegates pose for a group picture of their committee in front of the main entrance to Stanford University. The MUN conference was held during the weekend.
Over the weekend, members of the Model United Nations (MUN) club participated in a conference at Stanford University. Although eight students attended, none of them won awards.
The club, led by debate teacher Carol Green, mimics the United Nations and its committees. During conferences, every student represents a country and forms various solutions for modern-day problems for each respective nation.
“Each person is a delegate of a country, and you basically argue over a certain topic until you come up with a resolution, which is chosen by a voting period,” Shalini Arimilli (9) said, after attending her first MUN conference.
Most of the Upper School students at the conference were new to the MUN and enjoyed the experience.
“Including me, seven out of the eight people that went to the conference were new to MUN, but at first, it was kind of intimidating and then in the end, the conference was fun,” Aishu Murari (9) said.
Over 600 schools participated in the MUN conference. Each school received country assignments for the students, who would then write position papers about their selected topic. Besides being assigned a country, the students would be put in a designated committee with two topics to discuss. Committees from the UN were made up of a range of 10 to 20 students. Each group had a chair and a co-chair, who were undergraduates at Stanford University.
Sean Hiroshima, a sophomore at Stanford, is the chair for the Organization of American States (OAS). UN committees such as NATO and the OAS were represented at the conference. Hiroshima felt that Model United Nations helps students with public speaking and common knowledge of current events around the world.
“It really teaches delegates a lot about the challenges that our representatives have to deal with everyday and also helps them gain confidence,” Sean said.
Students from all around the world came to Stanford University for this conference. Delegates visiting from Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Chicago debated over the weekend.
Maria Jose Gaytic, a student at the Puebla Mexican School in Mexico, expressed her views on the MUN procedures in the United States compared to the procedures in Mexico.
“Ever since elementary school, I fell in love with MUN and decided to come to the US MUN in order to compare it with the MUN back home,” Maria said.
The MUN conference ended with a closing ceremony on Sunday afternoon.
Ayushi Gautam (12) is the Managing Editor of Harker Aquila. She has been a part of the journalism program since her freshman year. She was the Social Media...