The Good Counsel community is well-known for its great athletic and academic success, however, there are a multitude of clubs offered for students to take part in. Many of these clubs slip under the radar and are poorly recognized by the student body. An example of these clubs could be the Talon, which I didn’t even know about until this year. Model U.N. is another example of an unnoticed club.

Model U.N. is a club, moderated by Dr. DeVinne,  that allows students to channel their inner delegate or ambassador as they get to experience international diplomacy by addressing real-world issues on a global scale. Schools from around the globe represent different countries at Model U.N. conferences. Students learn crucial life skills, such as public speaking and working as a team. Of course, students meet new people, making lifelong friendships that they will remember for ages to come.

Model U.N. is a club that I find great comfort in as I’ve made new friends and learned about international issues that I would never have known about until doing my country’s position paper for the conferences. Of course, Model U.N. does involve doing research for your countries background (position papers) as well as being able to write resolutions with other delegates. So being able to be cooperative and patient with one another is a skill that I’ve gained.

Going into the Ivy League Model United Nations Conference a couple of weeks ago, I didn’t know what to expect as I was leaving Maryland and traveling to Philadelphia for a whole weekend with no experience. I was a shy and naïve delegate as I walked into Opening Ceremonies with my good friend Sophia and the rest of Good Counsel’s MUN team. Good Counsel represented Bahrain, a small country in the Middle East not far from Saudi Arabia. Sophia and I were partners, representing representing Bahrain in the DISC Committee. DISC refers to the Disarmament and International Security Committee.

I had done a good amount of research, co-wrote the position paper with Sophia, and I was feeling pretty good. So good that I forgot to say here doing roll call during the First Committee session, causing them to yell out our country’s name several times until Sophia and I finally realized that they were calling our country’s name. Everyone was staring at us because we were sitting in the back and we looked stupid. However, looking back at this moment, I chuckle.

After that, most things went quite smoothly for the first day. We found a block to unite with because Pakistan was so kind enough to ask us if we wanted to be in their forming block. Bahrain continued to work with Pakistan, and soon our block was known as M.E.C.C.A. Mecca stands for Middle Eastern Countries Cooperating with Allies. Serbia, who became my close friends and Syria who were very hard workers united as well. I was proud of my block. It was a small block that grew into a pretty large block of countries not only in the Middle East. Countries such as Uruguay, Netherlands, Russia, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, China, Japan, and many more were signatories.

In my committee, we discussed the issue of civil conflict and how to solve a civil conflict in war-torn countries as well as refuge displacement problems. Honestly, I never would have known about this issue and how negatively it impacts such a large mass of people who don’t deserve to be treated this way. I got to experience firsthand how hard it is to effectively make agreements that would put a stop to these issues while not causing more problems within these countries. It was so rewarding, getting to see high school students like myself work together to find peaceful solutions through critical thinking, empathy, and innovation.

Model U.N. is not all just serious business affairs, I laughed more, I smiled more, and I became more responsible. Although I didn’t win Best Delegate and Good Counsel didn’t win either, that’s okay because I got to know myself. When I left Philadelphia on the last day, I realized how much I’ve grown over the past couple of days at the MUN conferences. I realized that I entered Philadelphia as a naive delegate, but I left Philadelphia as a confident and independent woman. You, too, can experience personal growth, if you join Good Counsel’s Model U.N.