The Niles West Model United Nations (UN) team took 12 of their 20 students to the Model UN of the University of Chicago (MUNUC), one of the world’s largest high school overnight conferences from Feb. 6 to 9.
Model UN is a mock United Nations. 31 committees focused on a topic from historical time periods to modern-day issues so that delegates will gain more understanding of the capabilities and limitations of international diplomacy. Students are assigned a country or several countries to represent the various committees of the United Nations. They are presented with a certain issue to debate and pass resolutions on.
The sponsor of Model UN and Social Studies teacher, Matthew Wiemer, has been sponsoring this club since 2004 but decided to step aside a few years ago t0 attend to other commitments. The Social Studies teacher John Lee then took his place in 2020 but stepped down last year. Wiemer reclaimed his position and is happy to be back.
“I jumped at the chance to sponsor once again a club that I loved sponsoring for so many years,” Wiemer said.
Many of these students have been involved in Model UN since freshman year. Junior Avinn Shrestha decided to join the club freshman year to get better at public speaking.
“I was interested in doing activities relating to public speaking because I had never been good at it and it seemed fun,” Shrestha said.
The team left Thursday, Feb. 6 after 7th period to head to the University of Chicago. They spent three nights at the conference and prepared for multiple weeks beforehand. At this conference, there were several different competitions. Junior Riddima Brahmbhatt stated what she was most proud of about the trip.
“During the trip, I was most proud of being able to speak a few times and be a presenter for both a working and resolution paper,” Brahmbhatt said.
Wiemer and his chaperone, Social Studies teacher Maxine Lapin, commended the students for their active participation and for being great kids. The students were engaged and well-behaved the entire time. Wiemer shared one student’s highlight from the conference.
“One student, senior Aymal Yousefzai, won the Best Delegate award as Afghanistan on the UNESCO committee. This is the highest award a student can receive,” Wiemer said.
This trip provided the students with valuable skills to take with them as they compete at other conferences, as well as personal skills they can carry on for their lives. Shrestha states what he hopes to gain from future conferences.
“I hope that I become a more social person and get to know more people while also learning to work more efficiently during my committees,” Shrestha said.
For the rest of the school year, the Model UN team will be attending the Northwestern University Model UN Conference (NUMUN) on April 10-13 as well as a one-day conference hosted by Glenbrook South on April 26.
