MUN students attend conference in Valencia

Students debate at the UN Support Base in Valencia. For the debates at the UN Support Base, there were two committees that debated the topics of a cholera outbreak in Nigeria and an insurgency in India. These were crisis situations, which means that the delegates did not research these topics beforehand (Photo Courtesy of Mr. Jorgensen).

Nineteen students in grades six through eight attended the Model United Nations (MUN) conference in Valencia, Spain from November 17-20. At this conference, students debated many topics such as the question of securing arctic protection.

There were many students on the trip who were new to MUN, so this was their first conference. Both new and old members of MUN enjoyed the trip. “My favorite part of the trip was getting to see how Model UN works,” said eighth grader Estee Jorgensen, “and getting to learn about real world problems that I didn’t know were so serious.”

Eighth grader Isabelle Laxer said, “I really enjoyed the debating. It was my first time doing Model UN, and so it was a new experience for me.”

Mr. David Jorgensen, one of the advisors for the MUN club along with Ms. Sarah Venus, said that he thought students enjoy MUN because it is relevant to them. “It’s their future,” he commented. “We all deal with problems in the world.”

There are many skills that students can learn from MUN. Mr. Jorgensen named a few, including paying attention, debating, working with other students, researching, talking to people and improving your confidence.

MUN involves a lot of collaboration, and students enjoyed this. “It was easy to make new friends and meet new people,” said sixth grader Darren Morris.

There were four committees in the conference, and four to five people from ASL were in each one, and the delegates debated their topics and issues in their committees. “We got to be with our friends, but we also got to meet new people at the same time,” said sixth grader William Patmore. “I liked how we got to collaborate with many other schools instead of just debating within our classroom.”

Touring El Puig, the town they were staying in, was a highlight of the trip. El Puig was located on the outskirts of Valencia. “It was really beautiful,” said Laxer.

The students got a tour of the town and how it had played a role in Spanish history, and climbed a hill to see a view of the surrounding area. They also got to eat tapas, Spanish dishes, and went to a museum with printing presses.

The students also got to visit the UN support base in Valencia. They were given a tour of the base, and were then separated into two large committees to debate a “crisis” situation. A “crisis” situation is when something happens that the delegates didn’t prepare for. “I thought that our kids did really well,” said Mr. Jorgensen. “I was really proud of what they did and how they worked hard and prepared and participated.”

“If I was to do it again, I wouldn’t be so nervous in the beginning… I barely talked,” said Estee Jorgensen. “But as the conference progressed, I was talking more. I became a lot more confident.”

The MUN delegates have the opportunity to attend three conferences over the course of the school year. The first was VALMUN, in Valencia. The next one is West London MUN, which is co hosted by ASL, and the last conference will be an internal conference, with only members from ASL participating. Mr. Jorgensen said, “It’s great to seek out those opportunities.” 

About Mackensie Kim ('21)

Arts Editor (2016-2017)

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