By: Staff Writer Mustafa Ahmed
MSJ’s Model United Nations (MUN) team competed at the sixty-fourth Berkeley Model Nations from March 4 to 6. Berkeley Model United Nations (BMUN) is the oldest MUN conference in the world and this year’s conference drew over 1,500 high school students from all over the world.
BMUN aims to spread awareness of international issues and foster diplomatic skills through UN simulations. The conference began with an engaging opening ceremony that featured guest speakers Alisa Shubb and Alex Mette. Shubb, a professor at American River College who is also the chair of the school’s Speech Department, spoke on the topic of “Public listening”, where she emphasized that the success of a speaker depends on the listener. Shortly afterwards Mette, the Business Development Manager of the charity Living Goods, spoke about the organization, which aims to empower people in developing countries by improving the health of their families, friends, and communities. Delegates then made their way to their respective committees, where they debated international issues and simulated UN procedures for the next two days. The committees were representative of actual UN committees and included organizations such as the World Health Organization and the Food and Agricultural Organization. The conference concluded with a closing ceremony in which the chairs of each committee presented awards to delegates who excelled.
MSJ was more successful at this conference than in years past with six students out of the 27 attending the conference winning awards. Juniors Ana Singh and Kunal Agarwal and Senior Camilla He won research awards for the position papers they submitted for their respective committees. Juniors Shayna Kothari and Akshita Gandra won awards for being “commendable delegates”. Club Vice President Junior Neha Dubey said, “BMUN this year was an amazing experience. Like usual we brought 27 delegates and we all did really well. Not only did we do well, but it was also like a bonding experience and we all grew as a team and hopefully we’ll see more success in the future.”
