Palmer Trinity School

17 S U M M E R 2 0 1 7 BI R D'S EY E V I EW M O D E L U N IF YOU HAPPENED TO BE AT LA GUARDIA AIRPORT at around 9:30 p.m. on the 18 th of March, 2017, then you might have seen four students accompanied by two adults shivering in the cold, waiting for a taxi. You would probably be able to tell that they were not from New York. For one, they wore huge insulating coats, scarves, and gloves but somehow managed to stay cold. One student was also very excited at the sight of snow. e very next day, this group would be dressed in suits, ties, and other formal attire sitting in the General Assembly Hall in the United Nation's Headquarters listening to a few keynote speakers. e day after that, they could once again be found in their "adult" clothes in the UN's Headquarters, only this time they would no longer be themselves — they would be Delegates to the state of Burundi representing the interests of their nation. A few months prior, these students had received an all-school email inviting them to attend the first Model United Nations meeting at Palmer Trinity School. About 16 people attended the first meeting, but with time the club began thinning out. Eventually, there were seven committed individuals eager to build a serious Model UN program within their school. e students and teachers alike had to teach themselves what Model UN was about, and its particular semantics. e group learned that at Model UN, each school is assigned a country and a topic. Students are supposed to research the topic and its country's stance on the issue. At the conference, a Delegate (the name for the participants) loses his/her identity and becomes a vessel to enact the will of the nation they represent. As a result, the conferences do away with personal pronouns and the focus turns towards debating the issues. e debate follows a particular structure with allotted speaking time, specific language, and other particular decorum. e club had to teach itself all of this, running Model United Nations simulations after school every Monday. When the general flow of the conference was achieved, the group turned to researching Burundi and its stance on increasing African representation in the Security Council as well as how it could contribute to stability and good governance in its continent. After months of work, four of the seven students hopped on a plane and a few hours later found themselves in frigid weather in New York City. ey felt prepared, albeit a little nervous. All around there was a sense of responsibility. is was Palmer Trinity's first Model United Nations team in almost 15 years and there was no option but to take it seriously. At the conference, the students faced something that no amount of rehearsal could prepare them for: the number of people attending. e rooms were filled with 300-350 people, and although the structured portion of the debate was comfortable enough, the students had to improvise for the unmoderated caucuses. In an unmoderated caucus, delegates are allowed to walk around the room forming alliances and discussing the topic with other delegations in a more informal manner. e most exciting portion of the conference is that students learn diplomacy and networking skills in order to build a strong bloc — an alliance between nations. Group chats were formed, Google docs were shared, emails were exchanged, and one truly got a glimpse of how the 21 st century is impacting politics and international discourse. e students also learned how diplomacy extends far beyond the conference itself. Students from other schools would meet for lunch and dinner and would organize meetings in the hotel lobby. At night, between typical high school conversation topics, one could hear, "So, what do you think we should do about the "veto?" If we don't mention it maybe Russia will support us and, to be honest, we need one of the P5 members on our side if we have any chance of our resolution passing." Model United Nations consumed every minute of the delegates' time at the conference and beyond. Students forgot they were pretending and became fully committed to the ideas of their nations. ey got excited, stressed, and frustrated, much like real delegates in the United Nations. Students felt that everything they did could make a difference in the world, whether they were simulating or not. e result was inspiring. Yes, some could choose to see the conference as children playing dress-up entertaining their imaginations with no real purpose, but that very thought is itself immature. It is important to remember that every skilled diplomat today was once an adolescent. Every individual who has contributed to the maintenance of world peace once had the same high school conversations as people have today. It was inspiring to see the generation of the future take charge and feel responsibility for their place in the world. e statement may be cliche, but that does not make it untrue, the people at these conferences are the leaders of the future. At these conferences, young men and women learn the valuable skills of diplomacy, networking, public speaking, and research all while learning about international relations. It is a privilege for any school to offer a Model United Nations program, and Palmer Trinity can take great pride in knowing that they have built a spirited Model UN club. BY CHRIS TOPHE R H U DSON, CL A S S OF 2018 Michael Eschmann, Marzia Giambertoni, Paulina Nieto, Sabrina Bond, Christopher Hudson

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