Montrosians Compete at Virtual Model UN Conference
On October 24, Montrose girls participated in the first Model UN conference of the year, hosted by St. John’s. Although all of the committees were held via Zoom, Montrose had the opportunity to come to school for the day and attend the conference virtually, while being physically together as a group. The first conference of the year was attended by both newcomers to Model UN and skilled returners. In addition, there was a wide range of committees to choose from: the topics stretched from the Gulf War for beginners to the Constitutional Crisis for advanced participants.
The day started off with an engaging opening ceremony, followed by the commencement of the committees. During the morning portion of our Zooms, first-time participants had the opportunity to gauge a perspective both on what Model UN was really like and on other countries’ positions on the topics being discussed. To aid discussion, breakout rooms were used as a form of moderated and unmoderated caucuses. Gabriella Dansereau ‘26 commented: “The conference gave me a great experience with learning about the topic of the committee I participated in and how to debate and compromise skillfully. I had a lot of fun, learned a lot, and had a great time.” As the first half of the day came to an end, lunch began. This break in the middle of the day gave us an opportunity to hang out together and talk about what happened in each of our individual zoom committees.
After lunch, the second half of the day was a time for us to form and propose resolutions. Various agreements were decided on depending on the topic being debated. Some required no arguments at all, while others resulted in U.S. territory selling to foreign nations. As committees wrapped up, we gathered together for closing ceremonies where we were given the opportunity to hear from keynote speaker David Rhode, a New York Times journalist. He told us about his time as a journalist, included interesting stories from his experiences, took questions from the audience, and offered up advice for students — which we greatly appreciated.
In the end, everyone had a great time! Maevis Fahey ‘21 commented: “I’m still in a state of awe after the Saint John’s Model UN Conference. Our Montrose attendees were mostly new to Model UN and they all demonstrated so much confidence and enthusiasm… Our Montrose Model UN Club demonstrated that the change of circumstances this year won’t stop us. We’re ready as ever to tackle big questions — whether it be the tensions in the South China Sea or the formation of the electoral college in 1787 — both of which were topics discussed by Montrose participants at SJMUNC.”
Chaitanya Arora ‘23, Contributing Writer
Caroline Shannahan ‘23, Contributing Writer
