Looking back on the past year in the Model United Nations (UN), we have seen many great things happen in the club, from welcoming new members to the team to attending new conferences, but none of these things could have been possible without our senior club leaders, Hansini Gundavarapu and Leslie Baker. They both worked tirelessly all year to ensure a great experience at conferences, club meetings, and in all of the little details that helped to make the season as successful as it was. I know that everyone in the club will remember all of the dedication that Leslie and Hansini gave to the club this year, and especially all of the fun memories that they helped to make: from the conversations at meetings, to the preparation before conferences, and all of our midday comments about our committees, the year would not have been the same without them.
After becoming the club’s vice president this year, Leslie Baker has always been an encouraging presence in the club, keeping our weekly meetings focused on preparing for upcoming conferences or sharing logistics about any upcoming events, like paying dues or applications for next year’s leadership team. According to Rachel Dunn ’25, one of the co-captains for next year’s executive team, Leslie “always made sure the club ran smoothly.” She joined Model UN in her junior year, since her sister was a part of the club, and always spoke about how fun all of the conferences were, along with wanting to grow in her public speaking skills. I know I can always ask Leslie about conference and meeting details, and she is willing to take time out of her day to help anybody in the club when she needs it. Leslie also plays on the varsity soccer and softball teams, and, among others, is a part of the psychology club, the BioBuilders team, Chapel Crew (formerly Faith Peer Leaders), Montrose to Watts, the Looking Glass, and Bake-a-Change.
Hansini Gundavarapu, this year’s club president, joined the club during her freshman year at the recommendation of her mentor at the time, Mrs. Forsgard, who was the club’s previous advisor, and continued with it for her four years of high school, running for president at the end of her junior year. Even after attending only one meeting, anybody in the club can say that they know Hansini. At every Friday meeting, her zeal for Model UN spreads to everybody in the room, making the Student Life block lighthearted and memorable, while still accomplishing all of the tasks on tap for that meeting. Other than Model UN, Hansini is also a speech team captain, was in Junior Classical League (JCL) from freshman to junior year, and dances, plays tennis, and volunteers outside of Montrose.
When asking Leslie and Hansini, as well as the two faculty advisors from this year, Ms. Archbold and Mrs. Fabrizio, about what they think the year’s biggest accomplishment was, I received four different answers, spanning topics like respectful discussions on polarizing issues to the plans made for next year. Preparing for next year’s Model UN season, the seniors on the executive team put together a ‘guidebook,’ a document filled with all of the information that the team learned this year, from which conferences are the best to attend to the most efficient ways for collecting and keeping track of dues. The guidebook was Leslie’s answer to this question, wanting to help the upcoming year go even better than this, even when she will not be here, and so the executive team for the upcoming year can avoid making the same mistakes, and focus on creating an even better experience for the club.
Hansini’s response took the other end of the spectrum, saying that she was most proud of the team’s ability to handle and discuss polarized issues calmly and with an open mind, considering both sides of the argument. “Despite being the most divisive year of the past… whatever years, we did an incredible job at negotiating and compromising and working with others,” she commented: “and that’s something that every other school… did.” This skill is so important, since a major part of Model UN is being able to give a fair-minded representation of another country or person’s ideas, as well as debating and conversing respectfully from that position with others, whose views may or may not be shared, either personally or in the committee room. The fact that the team was able to achieve this ideal over the course of the season is a huge tribute to how hard the seniors worked this year to set a high standard for members, while also helping everyone on the team to be able to reach the bar.
The two faculty advisors of the club, Ms. Archbold and Mrs. Fabrizio, as mentioned earlier, also had two different answers for what they will remember most or are most proud of from this year. Mrs. Fabrizio was most impressed by the team’s performance at this March’s BC High conference, which Leslie and Hansini put countless hours into organizing and supporting the team through this competitive event. “There were so many other schools there with much bigger Model UN teams, yet as I was going around visiting each committee room, the Montrose girls were the ones who were always in the middle of the action, commanding the conversation, passing resolutions, and making coalitions. Our team also swept the awards on almost every committee — it made me so proud to be the advisor for the Montrose team.”
Ms. Archbold, the second of the club’s two advisors, answered that she was most proud of “the steps we made toward building the program.” I can attest to all of the hard work this year that not only Leslie and Hansini, but both advisors and the team as a whole put into Model UN this year, and the next year’s team as well as those of following years will be grateful for everything done in the 2023-24 season to get them to where they are.
Part of what made the year’s successes so impressive is that both the executive team as well as both of the club’s advisors are new to their positions this year, retaining none of the experienced leaders from the past, yet this seemingly had no effect on how well they did this year. At the beginning of this year, Hansini and Leslie, our two seniors, wasted no time in planning for the yearly scrimmage with Xaverian in October, and organizing meeting times and locations for the rest of the year, doing so with positivity and the determination to get it done and to do it well. They ensured that the Model UN club would be the tight-knit, welcoming community that is, and made every meeting one that I and others on the team looked forward to attending.
I know that the whole Montrose Model UN club will join me in wishing Hansini the best of luck at Tufts University, and Leslie at Cornell University next fall. We will miss you both so much, and we will never forget everything you have given us this year! Thank you.
By Elisabeth Smith ‘28, Co-Assistant Editor-in-Chief
28esmith@montroseschool.org
