From March 6-9, 2013, 55 Sturgis students, 41 from Sturgis East and 14 from West, attended the 39th annual National High School Model United Nations (NHSMUN) Conference in New York City. MUN delegation leader Mr. Fetzer , hotel/transportation coordinator Mr. Hyer, and two Faculty advisors, Ms. Roselander and Ms. Cavanaugh, also went on the trip.
Every March, NHSMUN hosts 3,000 participants from 150 schools from over 20 countries to represent certain countries’ delegations in the United Nations. This year, Sturgis East represented Sudan and Yemen. During this conference, these delegates participated in simulated committee meetings and plenary sessions. During the course of the four-day conference, each committee debated and discussed solutions to topics that the actual UN was facing, and each country had to collaborate with other delegates to come up with a draft resolution to the topic.
I personally represented the delegation of Sudan in the committee of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, otherwise known as UNIDO.
Each committee took part in high-level debates during the sessions, providing everyone with an unparalleled opportunity to experience the theory and practice of international relations first-hand. It was truly an eye-opening experience that gave me an insight into the United Nations.
I also attended various committee sessions similar to mine, in which we discussed “Sustainable Development in Developing Sub-Saharan African Countries.” During moderated and unmoderated caucuses, delegations worked together to create a resolution paper that would address the issues that their committee was working on.
We spent 3 days in committee working together and finally came to a consensus on the final day. All of the delegates went to the United Nations and voted on which resolution papers would be passed. To conclude the conference, students spoke about the papers they had drafted and the countries voted on which resolutions the Model United Nations would pursue. The opening and closing ceremonies were held in the UN General Assembly chamber, where actual UN diplomats convene every year.
In addition to the actual committee sessions, we heard a speech from Jim Ziolkowski, the founder, president, and CEO of “buildOn,” a non-profit organization that builds schools in developing countries while also running after school service programs in America’s toughest inner-cities.
On the last night, students were invited to the “Delegate Dance”. Delegates dressed up and had one last hurrah with their new friends. In addition to these events, Sturgis went out to dinner at Rockefeller Center. W had been staying at the beautiful Hilton Hotel on the Avenue of the Americas.
In all, simulations such as NHSMUN are invaluable educational tools, as they teach our future leaders about the United Nations and the international community through intensively researched debate with their peers in a setting moderated by students from the most elite universities.
NHSMUN was an incredible experience, and I will definitely return next year. If it wasn’t for Sturgis, I would never have been offered this valuable and rewarding experience.
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