Bridgewater-Raritan Model United Nations attended the 50th iteration of Yale MUN from January 18 to 21 at the college in New Haven, Connecticut.
At the conference, delegates from the school met with other delegates from over 30 countries, including Brazil, India, China and Portugal and worked with them in the 50 committees that Yale offered.
The opening ceremony held in Woolsey Hall also featured speeches from Yale President Peter Salovey and former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, both of whom spoke about the importance of diplomacy and compromise.
Over four days and seven committee sessions, the delegates worked to resolve their respective crises within their committees. Resolutions were debated, stances were argued upon and every committee faced divisions when it came to passing their resolution paper. Nonetheless, the delegates utilized diplomacy, tact and the public speaking skills they were taught in the club to sponsor the papers and work towards passing them.
During the breaks between committee sessions, delegates got a chance to meet other students from different schools and countries. The main event, Yale Day, served not only as an opportunity for students to tour the campus but also for delegates to form friendships.
On the final day, the Awards ceremony was held in Woolsey Hall. BRHS juniors Harsha Ahmed and Isabel Lu, who worked together to represent Malaysia in ASEAN, won “Best Delegate” for their performance. They debated the crisis in Myanmar and the rising environmental issues in Southeast Asia and successfully passed both their resolutions.
Freshman Himani Konda attended Yale MUN, marking it her first conference. She recounted her experiences in New Haven.
“Yale MUN was a great experience where I got to meet people from around the world to discuss important topics,” Konda said.
Similarly, junior Shravani Bichkule noted that “the Yale Model United Nations experience was like stepping into a kaleidoscope of global perspectives. This opportunity helped shape me into a better collaborator, team player, and public speaker. I had a lot of fun and hope to attend again next year.”
Attending the trip were two teacher chaperones, Eileen Boosmann (Special Education/Science) and Alana Calello, (Science) and one parent chaperone, Mrs. Lu.
Mrs. Lu commented on the determination and hard work of the students she noticed while chaperoning.
“Our students deserve a huge round of applause for their dedication in spite of sleep deprivation due to the conference schedule. Many students offered helping hands such as luggage handling, placing group food orders, and looking out for each other,” Mrs. Lu said.
Having seen success at its first conference of the year, the club looks forward to attending future conferences like Academy MUN in February and NHSMUN in March.
