MUN Competes at University High’s Annual Spring Conference

Maya Tedini, Staff Writer|March 31, 2023

Ruhi Samudra

Sophomore Katie Le laughs as she talks to delegates from other local high schools in the U.S. Senate committee about the possible solutions their bloc could propose to combat domestic terrorism. “It’s all about fun, first of all, and some of them were able to practice their public speaking, practice their research skills and practice their ability to follow specific procedures and formats to reach goals,” MUN adviser and social studies teacher Daniel Hunter said.

Model United Nations won seven awards at the annual University High MUN Spring Conference on March 25. 

  • Sophomore Ana Girnita: best delegate award in novice UN Human Rights Council
  • Junior SJ Janolkar: best delegate in novice UN Office on Drugs and Crime
  • Junior Tyler Kim: research and best delegate awards in advanced Historical Crisis
  • Sophomore Katie Le: research and commendation awards in advanced U.S. Senate
  • Junior Rory Miller: commendation award in novice UNHRC
  • Sophomore Ruhi Samudra: research award in advanced UN Environment Programme
  • Sophomore Kiki Yang: commendation award in advanced Fantasy Crisis

“It was a lot of more experienced people in MUN this time, and they all had their unique speaking styles,” junior Kevin Ying said. “And they had really good points, everybody had really good points. It was just really nice being in a room with those people and just seeing how they worked.” 

Delegates competed in either general assembly or crisis with different committees in each, such as UNHRC, historical crisis and fantasy crisis. The fantasy crisis committee at this conference was especially unique as it took place in the fantasy world of “Avatar: the Last Airbender.”

 Prior to the conference, delegates drafted their position papers that communicated their country’s stance on their committee’s topic.

“During the first few speeches that I had to give, because these speeches kind of have to be improvised, I was quite nervous,” Yang said. “But since I already had this experience ––– I’ve already been to a couple of other conferences ––– I felt overall more excited and confident than nervous.”

MUN prepared for this conference through extensive research as it was small, more local and highly competitive; students were successful in the conference as a result of their commitment, understanding of their position and creativity, according to MUN adviser and social studies teacher Daniel Hunter.

“The feeling before the conference is excitement,” Hunter said. “For some of them it’s their first time. For others they’re experienced, but overall people are looking forward to it. They’re excited.”