Portola High Hosts Third Annual Model United Nations Conference

Tamara Bradley and Nicole Ferguson

Junior Polina Makovetska represents Ukraine and presents her case in front of the global human trafficking committee. “I would say the most rewarding part of partaking in a conference is the award ceremony at the end,” Makovetska said. “Because you get to see if whatever you said and the work you put in had given you an award.”

Model United Nations (MUN) hosted a conference for the third year in a row, welcoming more than 200 people from different schools and organizations on Feb. 21.

This year marked Portola High MUN’s most attended conference. Additionally, the mayor of Irvine was in attendance and gave an opening speech to the delegates. At the conference, four awards were won by Thomas Tseo for Commendation Novice OHCHR, Anika Singh for Commendation Novice OHCHR, Samashti Signh for Commendation Novice OHCHR, Evan Hwang for Commendation Advanced WHO and Nikita Thota for Commendation Advanced ECOSOC.

“[You develop] a lot in public speaking,” Ukraine Representative and junior Polina Makovestka said. “There are a lot of moments where you have to speak, or rise to speak, and it’s just like you’re jumping out for those opportunities.”

Portola High’s MUN offered four discussion topics: the Novice Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), novice United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), Advanced World Health Organization (WHO) and the Advanced Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

“We got together with our board, and we brainstormed topic ideas that the rest of the board would like to see,” Co-President, Secretary General of Education and senior Alex Lingerfelt said. “And overall, as long as it made sense with each committee, we allowed them to create the committee they were passionate about so they could be able to effectively judge and grade that committee.”

Novice director and junior Cole Bitterlitch said that this year’s board focused on encouraging collaboration and providing new perspectives as delegates build skills like learning how to research properly and talking about worldwide issues.

“Our goal is to keep trying to get bigger, and add more schools [to the conference],” Bitterlitch said. “But this year has been a lot more organized. Last year, we had some issues with organization. But this year, we really stepped up and found our group.”

Looking forward, MUN will prepare for and host their next conference, which will take place on March 21, 2027.

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About the Contributors

Tamara Bradley, Assistant Arts and Entertainment Editor

Tamara Bradley is the Assistant Arts and Entertainment Editor for her second year on the Portola Pilot. In the new school year, she is eager to write more exhilarating stories with the limited time she has. When she is not having a breakdown while studying for AP Biology, you can find her watching hour-long mukbangs, chronically online shopping, or listening to her Spotify playlists on repeat.

Nicole Ferguson, Personal Story Director

Nicole Ferguson is the Personal Story Director and for her second year on the Portola Pilot. When she isn’t with her friends, she is practicing guitar or working. She loves music and reading! She really hopes she can contribute to a plentiful amount of eye-catching stories this year.