MUN perseveres despite challenges

Despite low funding, the school’s Model United Nations club (MUN) has been up and running, having participated in the Santa Clara Valley Model United Nations conference held at Santa Teresa High School from Jan. 30-31.

Model UN members meet during lunch on Tuesdays in teacher Margarita Morelle’s room, led by the club’s president, senior Helen Wong. Although they will not be participating in any more official conferences this year, they continue to develop debating techniques.

“MUN helps us look at things from untraditional and non-biased viewpoints, which is a valuable skill,” Wong said.

Members of the club are able to practice looking at conflicts from different perspectives by speaking and planning arguments based on the viewpoints and interests of a variety of countries during conferences. MUN stresses the importance of understanding different cultures by allowing students to speak for the perspectives and motives of the countries they represent.

“For example, if we are arguing for a predominantly Muslim country, we have to take stances according to Muslim values and collaborate with countries that also have similar values,” said sophomore Sarah Jin.

At the conference, which was attended by almost 1,000 students from various high schools, the delegates established their positions on the given topics and created blocs, or alliances, with other countries that have similar viewpoints as theirs. Participating in conferences also allow the delegates to practice making convincing presentations in order to sway the listeners.

“Everyone did very well, speaking often and with good skill,” Wong said.

The attendees were also satisfied with their performances and anticipate upcoming events.

“The delegates really get into it and it’s fun to see everyone get into character as their country,” said Jin.

In preparation for conferences in the years to come, Wong plans on setting up mock conferences with other schools.

“We really want to establish our members and our place so we can set the stage for next year,” said Jin.

This year, the club was unable to attend their traditional conference at Stanford University, but they remain hopeful that they will be able to attend more conferences in future years.