The Niles West Model United Nations (UN) went to the annual competition known as the Model United Nations of the University of Chicago (MUNUC) on Feb. 8 where they competed against other schools. The trip downtown lasted from Thursday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. Students in Model UN were chosen by their student leaders to attend this trip.

In Model UN conferences, the delegates, or students, from one school team are separated into committees. Each committee is a model of a real division of the United Nations, each with a different global problem(s) to solve. Each delegate represents a country and collaborates with others within committee sessions through speeches, resolution writing, passing notes, etc. to help solve the issue.

The first session was where students had an introduction and they presented their positions on their topics. In the following days, students were working on writing papers in various blocks (groups), merging and creating draft resolutions to try and solve the issue at hand in their specific committee. On Sunday, students had finished resolving issues and started to do other enjoyable activities: games, karaoke and interacting with each other after the award ceremony.

One delegate in Model UN who participated in the conference represented Tuvalu in the Special Meeting on Global Events (SMGE) on the topic of how global sporting and music events can affect workers and the people around them.

“I tried to make do with my resources and experiences, but unfortunately I did not receive an award at the award ceremony. I’m proud of us though and I’m glad we all tried our best. Besides my loss, we went out for food and walks in downtown Chicago. As a club, we had lots of fun and I hope we get to enjoy these kinds of moments again,” junior Aymal Yousefzai said.

The way students were able to win at MUNUC is that within each committee, your resolution or your group’s resolution is chosen and then you are presumed the winner. Otherwise, at the very end of the conference, you will have certain delegates (individuals) who are chosen as the best people who have performed on the committee for the last four days.

Around 2500 people came to the conference at MUNUC with teams attending from all over the world. Besides the conference, students also had a lot of free time as well.

“We had five committee sessions overall, and there were two to three-hour breaks in between for students to have meals or go and explore the city. It is a nice experience for the kids to look and explore downtown,” Model UN sponsor John Lee said.

The 12 students who attended had wonderful feelings and thoughts about the conference.

“The UChicago conference, or MUNUC, was an unforgettable experience. It is the largest conference we have been to yet, so it was a great learning experience. The four-day overnight conference also made it a great time for team bonding. As a senior, it’s sad knowing this is my last overnight conference, but I’m grateful for my teammates who participated and made it fun, as well as the UChicago Model UN team for hosting a great conference,” senior Raina Singh said.

One Honorable Delegation was given to senior Callie Nixon. She got an award for her work in the Legal Committee on the topic of international adoption while representing the island nation of Tuvalu. 

Model UN is a student-led club where the executive board teaches the members everything they need to know about Model UN and provides fun activities during practice to prepare students for upcoming conferences, or competitions. They also assign positions for competitions and motivate their members.

“Model UN is the perfect club if you want to build your public speaking, collaboration, writing and diplomacy skills. I’ve noticed Model UN has made myself, as well as others, more confident in the classroom, interviews, other leadership positions, etc. There are also crisis committees, where you could be representing Drake in the Billboard 100, Lebron James in the NBA or George Washington in the Constitutional Convention. We have a great, dedicated Model UN team here at Niles West, and I suggest you join if you want to gain valuable skills but have fun at the same time,” Singh said.