Marriotts Ridge High School’s very own Model United Nations (MUN) is holding their second ever student-led conference on December 9th. In March of last year, MUN held their first conference here at Marriotts Ridge. The first Ridge Model United Nations Conference, or RIDGEMUNC, was so largely successful that the club decided to continue forward with similar efforts. This year, with a variety of new committees and crises, RIDGEMUNC II will be held, bringing in people from all different schools to come together and solve critical issues.
“We are looking forward to more people, larger committees. My past experience with Model UN] has been wonderful, I loved Model UN. The conferences are fun, Georgetown was fun. We are actually the biggest club in the school now,” junior Vice President External Utkarsh Mandsaurwale commented.
Last year’s MUN president, Abihith Velumuri, was extremely successful in bringing the first RIDGEMUNC alive. The conference’s success pushed the MUN board to continue with the second conference this year. Succeeding Velumuri are seniors Suhas Chokkaku, president of internal affairs, and Archisha Saxena, president of external affairs. The board this year has organized two general assembly committees and three crisis committees. While the number of committees are the same as last year, it seems that a lot more thought has been put into the planning process this year, especially when choosing committees, crises and issues.
“A lot of changes are going to be made. For example, the committees are going to be much more organized and tailored to give the delegates a really fun experience. And what I’m personally looking forward to is giving our best [delegate] a prize tailored to their committee. We tested the waters last year with the territorial disputes in space and we gave our best delegate a space helmet,” junior Vice President Jeremey Jacob explained.
The Model UN board has exciting events to present to Model UN participants during RIDGEMUNC II. New committees and fresh ideas have drawn in over a hundred delegates looking forward to collaborating with each other. With registration due November 22nd, some delegates have already been researching committees and countries to further prepare and make sure they get the most out of this fantastic experience. Besides looking good on college applications, Model UN seems to have other benefits as well.
“Model UN greatly helps you with your public speaking skills, and if you want to be an ambassador, it’s good experience,” junior Risha Basatwar remarked.
Many students develop better public speaking skills and related communication skills through Model UN. Students seem to support the idea that Model UN does help them improve in these aspects, which is all the more reason to participate. The small cost it takes to participate in Model UN is greatly outweighed by the benefits of the program, something that students seem to have taken notice of. The board encourages anyone looking to improve themselves, better their public speaking skills or just have a fun time, to sign up for Model UN. The board and both incoming and veteran delegates await RIDGEMUNC II enthusiastically.