Club Spotlight: Model UN
Model United Nations is a worldwide organization that gives high school and college students the opportunity to imitate the United Nations, learning about international relations and diplomacy in the process. Students sign up to represent a country and research the country’s position on a certain topic. In large forums, they discuss solutions to problems with other country’s delegates, attempting to come up with a proposal to present to each council.
The Phillips Exeter Academy Model United Nations club (PEAMUN) competes in several weekend and two-day competitions throughout the year such as Yale University’s conference (YMUN) and Boston University’s high school conference (BosMUN), where they won Outstanding Small Delegation for the first time in three years this February.
The nine person PEAMUN board consists of senior co-presidents, directors of finances, training, external and internal affairs and three upper associates. Senior and co-President Kaitlyn Kang, who has been involved since prep year, said her favorite thing about the club is the people. “Everyone is extremely eloquent, very tactful, and I find myself constantly learning from everyone around me,” she said.
“It's exciting to see that there are so many teenagers who really care about the topics that we are discussing, and who really want to come up with a legitimate solution for them.”
For senior and co-President Bokyoung Kim, MUN has been a chance to think in a new perspective. She has represented countries that do not share the same viewpoints as her, but she said, “that’s what makes MUN interesting,” because it forces her to think harder and deeper about her country’s position in relation to the world.
Since prep year, PEAMUN has taught senior and director of finances Eric Tang how to speak to and work with others. One downside he has found to MUN is that the awards can be arbitrary. However, he enjoys it because “speaking is terrifying but exhilarating, and it gives us a chance to write our own history.”
Along with educating on different stances regarding problems around the world, MUN offers a unique experience for students to meet people across the country and collaborate in sometimes unsettling issues.
Upper Alexis Gorfine noted that she does MUN to increase her understanding of the world as well as to meet people who are passionate in a similar field of study. “It's exciting to see that there are so many teenagers who really care about the topics that we are discussing, and who really want to come up with a legitimate solution for them,” she said.
Along with this friendly collaboration comes an “invigorating sense of competition,” Gorfine said. This competition provokes a demanding work ethic for students to strive for a realistic resolution. With this endeavor for a more thorough understanding of an issue comes improved skills in public speaking and collaboration. Even when students are not in a committee session, they continue to mull over issues to develop stronger reasoning and thus, a more successful presentation of their concluded beliefs.
Upper Michael Bamah finds value in the club largely due to its fostering of skills similar to those used at the Harkness table. He explained that MUN allows for participants to think in a more global sense rather than being narrow minded. Bamah also noted that research on world issues has broadened his understanding of the severity of issues that can sometimes be glossed over in an everyday life routine.
However, coinciding with the many beneficial aspects of MUN comes with the club’s heavy time consumption. Several members voiced that the workload for the extracurricular can, although enjoyable, be very strenuous at times. “The most difficult things is really just managing both Exeter stuff and preparing and going to multi-day conferences,” said Jiro Mizuno.
Last weekend, the board held the 2016 Phillips Exeter Academy Model United Nations Conference (PEAMUN VIII). Twenty-eight schools had a total of 450 students attend. Delegates had nine committees to choose from: three General Assemblies, two Specialized Agencies, two Joint Crisis Committees, a Security Council, a Historical Crisis Committee and a Model Congress. Topics of these committees ranged from prison reform to the cybersecurity to women's reproductive rights.
As co-President and Secretary General, Kim faced some of challenges while planning PEAMUN, such as coordinating a large group of people, but she said one of the best parts of MUN for her has been seeing all younger students get excited for their committee sessions. “I remember going to my first ever conference as a naive eighth grader not knowing anything about Model UN and simply being told that ‘experience is the best way to learn,’” she said. “I see my old self in the delegates, and it makes me immensely happy to know that PEAMUN may be the conference that inspires them to continue doing MUN.”