From Friday, March 4 to Sunday, March 6, several Poly students participated in the Model United Nations (MUN) conference held annually at UC Berkeley.
MUN places students in real-life simulations of the United Nations; participants can choose from several committees based on UN agencies and discuss issues in line with each agency’s focus. Students are given the roles of ambassadors for specific countries and must gather research, write position papers on their countries’ policies, and create resolutions in their committees.
“My partner Emma Larson and I were in a committee based on migrant workers’ rights and the implications of sex tourism, so not only were we able to learn about the world and real-life issues, [but] we were [also] able to do so in a way that helped us work together with others for a common goal,” said junior club president Stefana LoTempio.
Hosting almost two thousand students annually, Berkeley MUN is one of the largest conferences on the West Coast and in the nation. 17 Poly students made their way to the Bay Area early Friday morning to catch the opening ceremony and first committee session later that night. This group, along with the almost 1800 students overall, had been preparing for the conference since the beginning of the year.
“We found out our committees in February, and we wrote our position papers and did research this month,” said senior Daniel Sagrera.
Participants divided their time up between committee sessions on their two topics and unscheduled periods for leisure and exploration. One of the benefits of being at
an away conference is having the opportunity to explore a new area and meet people from all over the world. Students were not only from the United States, but also from El Salvador, Canada, and Singapore.
“The away conferences allow us to meet other kids. A lot of the away conferences are much better run and the kids are more prepared and the debate runs much better,” said junior Emma Larson.
Larson and LoTempio earned research awards for their position papers. Though not everyone won awards at the conference, all those involved had an enjoyable and fruitful experience.
For those interested, MUN is held every Thursday in Room 415 (Gillogly). The next conference will be at UC Irvine in May.
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