A Message from the president... |
Welcome to the Waterville Model United Nations team website! Model UN is a speech and debate program, where we discuss world issues that are currently being overseen by the United Nations. The team applies for, and represents various countries at conferences held once a month through out the year. The conferences conduct selected committees with topics chosen by chairpersons who will be administering the individual committees of the conference. Model UN may seem like a lot of work and no fun, but it really is a great opportunity to expand your horizons, to better understanding world politics, and foreign policies. It's also a great opportunity to meet new people from other schools, and sometimes from other countries. It encourages you to think outside the box and to really understand what it really means to have an impact on what's going on outside of this small little town in Central New York. Model UN gives you the chance to challenge oneself, to do serious critical thinking, match wits with leaders from other schools, and make new friends. There is often rivalry in debate and competition for recognition in concluding awards at the end of the conference. It's true that in MUN, you'll have to strive, to work hard, but, trust me, it's totally worth it. You don't realize that the world isn't as impersonal as you think it is until you're involved in a program like Model UN. We're constantly forced to look beyond the sheltered opinions we're raised on and are able to have a more unbiased opinion of the world and its cultures. All the different beliefs, ethnicities, cultures-they all come together in the United Nations to try and resolve conflicts and face human issues, such as human rights, world health, environmental problems, etc. In Model UN, the same is true. It's amazing how many students that come from different cultural backgrounds are involved in the program and we all work together to achieve a common goal, a greater purpose. The lessons we learn in MUN stay with us; they apply to the outside world as well. So, when I say that Model UN is valuable beyond academic credits for high school, I'm not kidding…for once. Model UN is a great program that has helped me in more aspects than I can count. It has helped me improved my public speaking skills, research and work habits, and improved my knowledge of world topics. It has also sparked my interest in politics. To quote a former Waterville Model UN member, Shana Pughe (Graduated from Utica College in 2008, and now works as Community Coordinator for the Mohawk Valley Refugee Center ),
"Model UN is the reason I studied International Relations and currently work at a Refugee
Center."
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