Model United Nations
Directing JCC at MUNUM - 2020/2021
In January of 2020, I was selected to lead the University of Michigan's next Joint Crisis Committee. While for most MUN committees, delegates work together within a room to solve an external problem, in a JCC there are two rooms who compete against each other. For the 2020/2021 JCC, my team decided to simulate the War of 1812, with a room for the British and another for the United States.
Running a crisis committee, much less a JCC, is challenging in a normal year. With COVID, the demands of simultaneously managing two rooms in Zoom and taking care of their interactions with each other becomes that much harder. Despite these difficulties, we hosted a cohesive and fun conference, and I'm very proud of the successes of my team in accomplishing this.
Rapporteur at MUNUM - 2019
In 2019, I worked as a rapporteur for the Joint Crisis Committee at MUNUM. The committee dealt with the war in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea, with one room acting as the Russian-aligned separatists and the other room acting as the Ukrainian establishment. In that role, I helped run the backroom to research the likely consequences of delegate action, and additionally worked to invent crises that would keep them engaged with the process and ensure they always had something to do.
Secretary General at SEMMUNA - 2017
In 2017, when I was a Junior in high school, I acted as Secretary General for SEMMUNA, Michigan's largest high school MUN conference. This is the top executive role in a UN power structure, akin to President.
In my role, I helped ensure every committee was running smoothly for the one thousand students in attendance. I also independently arranged for a visit by US Senator Debbie Stabenow, so that she could visit delegates throughout the day. While crises popped up throughout the day, my leadership was effective at resolving them, and the conference was ultimately a huge success.
Team Captain - 2016 through 2019
My involvement in and success at Model UN earned me a team captain role when I was still a sophomore in high school. I retained this role through the rest of my high school years, helping to lead the team both in competitions and in practice. Under my leadership, our team often took awards at statewide conferences. This includes a number of Best Delegation awards, which are given to the highest-performing team at a conference.
What I've Learned
When I started high school, I was shy and reserved, hardly able to speak to anyone I didn't already know. Model UN gave me an outlet to express myself in a safe context; instead of being a terrified freshman, I was instead Brazil or China or the Holy See. I embraced that outlet, and built my talent as an effective debater and delegate, earning a number of awards and honors in the process. I also carried over those skills to my everyday life. In that way, Model UN allowed me to develop my skills of self expression, without which so many of my accomplishments would never have happened.
Now, I work to give back by. I've made it my mission to help manage and facilitate conferences so future delegates can benefit the same way I have. Whether I'm acting as a director, a rapporteur, or even as the Secretary General, I've given my all to make my conferences as successful as they can be, and I like to believe I've extended that same opportunity I once had to others. Model UN taught me to go out and advocate for yourself and for others. It taught me that self expression isn't something to be feared, but to be embraced. I hope that my actions help teach those lessons to the next class of students, because those are the lessons I credit with my successes to date.