The MICDS delegation won the award for Outstanding Small Delegation at the WashU Symposium. The award was dedicated for the attendees’ work, position papers, the effort they put in during debates, and collaboration with students from across the country. Baishali Biswas ‘25 and Avani Reddy ‘25 both expressed that “it was surprising” when they received the award. Robyn Davies was also awarded best delegate for her work on the UNHCR, the refugee agency.
A rapidly growing club, Model UN has been gaining traction since its start shortly after the pandemic. Model UN Faculty Sponsor and History Teacher Kristin Roberts provided some insight to what Model UN is: “Model UN is a simulation of the United Nations, where students often times represent some kind of nation, either in a general assembly or in a crisis moment, and they do the research to better understand that nation and their perspective.” She also said that they “debate with delegates and collaborate with other delegates to get some kind of resolution”
Leading up to the conference, Roberts explained that the attendees “prepare[d] the content for having those discussions” as well as researching their assigned country and submitting position papers.
“One of the goals in attending the WashU Symposium this past weekend was just to take on something a bit more challenging, that required a bit more preparation and research, [and] that was a bit more intensive in the amount of time [the team] would be spending,” Roberts said.
“We spent basically the entirety of two days involved in intellectual and moral debates,” Omkaar Alakkassery ‘24 said. “I was on the Star Wars committee so being a Star Wars nerd, I had a really great time debating and immersing myself in the universe and getting to practice important skills like diplomacy and how to work with others while still achieving our own goals.”
“It was really an enlightening experience to the world of Model UN,” Biswas said. She also stated that “it’s not really just if you’re interested in just Model UN, you can hone in on almost any skill you have.”
Reddy agreed, explaining “I learned that there were different branches of Model UN, and it was really interesting.” She thinks that Model UN “is a truly engaging club and I feel like we need to build that at MICDS.”
“I’m just really proud of the fact that we were able to attend and that we won this Outstanding Small Delegation,” Roberts said. “It speaks to [the students’] drive to start a club like ours and stick with it the last couple years to get it off the ground, and then to see the torch passed to the next generation of Model UN club members, and that they’re willing to step up and challenge themselves. I know the five students that attended were really excited and liked the process by the end of the weekend so I’m excited to see what we can do this year, next year, to keep slowly, gradually evolving the club.”
