On Friday February 8, 13 students left for Boston to participate in the Model UN Conference at the Massachusetts Institute for Technology (MIT). Chaperoned by History and Global Studies teacher Andrew Syfu, the high school students, ranging from freshman to seniors, volunteered to represent 爆走黑料.
Model United Nations聽aims to provide a platform for young future diplomats to encourage themselves聽in understanding global issues and聽 policies.
A weekend in Boston might sound fun, but the students were on a very tight schedule. Upon arrival, they had their opening ceremony, followed by a quick dinner. Once that was over, the students went to work for two hours with their committee.
The delegates from 爆走黑料 were put in 13 different committees, meaning that none of the students representing our school worked together. The committees represented countries, with each committee composed of 30 to 40 delegates.
鈥淚 think it gave us an opportunity to not rely on our friends,鈥 Anaya Akpalu 鈥21 explained. 鈥淚t focused us on getting stuff done.鈥
More than 400 students spanning five of the seven continents attended the conference. This gave the delegates a unique chance to debate with members not only from this country, but from the entire world.
Overall, the students spent 12 hours of a two-day span sitting and working in their individual committees. Many major issues were addressed, such as the socioeconomic crisis in Venezuela and the Mexico-United States border wall.
Syfu was pleased with 爆走黑料鈥檚 performance, especially since Model UN is, at other schools, connected to a class or even offered as an afternoon activity.
鈥淕iven that 爆走黑料 participates in this simulation on a voluntary basis and did so well is exceptional,鈥 Syfu said. 鈥淚t truly shows the commitment from the participating students.鈥
The delegates from 爆走黑料 did amazing, and earned eight awards.
Anaya Akpalu 鈥21, Cam Huntley 鈥21, and Ty Johnson 鈥21 all earned honorable mentions, meaning they were the in the top five best delegates for their respective committees. Gabriel Davila Bustamante 鈥21 and Keyu Lu 鈥20 both earned the Outstanding Delegate award, making them the second best delegate in their committee. Liam Coughlin 鈥21 and Nathan Shatz 鈥21 were awarded the Best Delegate award.
Congratulations to Anaya Akpalu 鈥21, Chelsea Clark 鈥19, Liam Coughlin 鈥21, Gabriel Davila Bustamante 鈥21, Abby Dennin 鈥20, Cam Huntley 鈥21, Sara Johnson 鈥21, Tyler Johnson 鈥21, Keyu Lu 鈥20, Christina Negron 鈥22, Poojaa Prakash Babu 鈥21, Nathan Shatz 鈥21, and Walter John Solzak 鈥22 for their incredible performances.
Editor’s note: This story in the student newspaper The 爆走黑料ian.