From March 15-18, members of the Bridgewater-Raritan High School RHS Model United Nations Club attended NHSMUN, an international conference that was held  in New York City.

Students were paired together to research multiple global issues and represent the stances of various governments regarding them.

At the conference, they worked for three intensive days (with international participants from Italy to Argentina) to devise innovative solutions. On the final day, the school had the chance to explore the city, visit the actual UN headquarters, hear the views of the former president of Latvia, and even earn some awards!

The weeks of hard work each and every delegate put in, writing 10-page long position papers earned BRHS the Research and Preparation Award of Excellence amongst thousands.

High school students Angelo Chen and Vedasri Jaladi, representing Bahrain in the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), received the Award of Merit, Ashwin Lakshman and Robbin Luo, delegates of Barbados, earned the Award of Merit in the Special Political & Decolonization Committee (SPECOL), and Dev Patel and Hardhik Atchakala, got the Award of Excellence for representing Bahrain in SPECOL.

Over the course of the trip, their research and preparation paid off during the five committee meetings, most of which were around two to four hours long.  Although the times varied (one meeting was even scheduled from 12 a.m. to 4 a.m.), most were spread out evenly throughout the day to allow delegates breaks.

During the meetings, delegates gave speeches in front of hundreds of people, formed alliances (or “blocs”), wrote resolutions on the issues their committees were tackling, and finally, voted on the resolutions. 

After all the work was done, and the committees were adjourned, the organizers of the event had the delegate dance and social ready on the second to last day. As the name suggests, delegates went to interact with each other in a more informal setting and have a bit of fun.

Finally, on the last day, every single member of the event got a chance to visit the real UN headquarters, where every nation in the world meets to solve issues and come to a consensus. The best delegates from each committee were chosen to give a recap of NHSMUN. The former president of Latvia, Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, even attended via Zoom to give a speech. 

Students recounted their experiences throughout the city in an interview with The Prowler:

According to freshman Ronak Hunashimarad, “Walking around New York between conference sessions with my friends was amazing since we got to do some sightseeing… I also liked meeting other international delegates and hearing their ideas… The experience in the actual United Nations building felt especially significant since it is quite exclusive and was incredibly eye-opening.”

Another freshman, Paritosh Bhole, said that “NHSMUN was a very valuable experience… [that] built up a sense of teamwork I could not achieve anywhere else.” 

After this success, the BRHS Model UN wishes to continue with more conferences this year, such as the North Model UN Conference (NorthMUNC.) Additionally, with the officer selection process having been started, it hopes to bring in fresh talent to help run the club.