At the Palmer House Hilton in downtown Chicago, the ACHS Model UN club participated in an annual conference at the University of Chicago. The conference, held Feb. 2-5, began in order to combine high school student ambassadors and diplomats from around the world in heated discussions on current political, social and economic issues.

“I learned that we all want to solve the same problems,” senior Christiana Buchino said. “We all have different ways of doing it, but we still have to work together to accomplish the goal.”

According to MUNUC.org, the mission statement of Model UN is to educate students in the arts of debate, negotiation and public speaking through a forum where students can engage their skills with other student peers around them. MUNUC draws in students from all across the world, including delegates from Costa Rica, China, Italy and Puerto Rico.

ACHS was given the delegation of Israel in many committees along with other special politicians in crisis and special committees. Students were given the task of conducting research and accurately represent their countries in a mock United Nations setting; this includes debate, writing and establishing relations with other delegations. Sequoits participated in immense research and preparation for the conference with an end goal of a successful finish.

“I took away great communication skills,” Hampson said. “And how to really understand other civilizations and how they are run.”

Antioch students Jack Connelly and Gabrielle Kalisz received the Outstanding Delegate Award in the International Atomic Energy Agency, an honorable achievement for the two students who acted as the delegation of Israel. Outstanding Delegate is a top award given at MUNUC; Kalisz and Connelly were one of two delegations given the award out of at least 146 members in their committee. After 3 long days of writing, working and thorough debate, Kalisz and Connelly and their bloc of countries passed their resolution paper. This is an intense process with many steps included creating rough drafts referred to as working papers, merging with other papers and making amendments, with the end goal being a passed resolution. Passing a resolution requires a simple majority meaning half of the delegates in committee or more yay than nay votes.
The trip to the University of Chicago left Sequoits with valuable world and communicative information that will help prepare them for future skills. With so many students across the world, MUNUC provides a unique opportunity and experience for students to immerse themselves into the world of the United Nations.