During the early morning hours of January 10th, when the sky was gray, the air felt thick, and the clouds looked heavy with rain, student delegates arrived at Frederick High School for the 21st Annual Frederick County Model UN Conference. The auditorium’s lights were dimmed and the seats were packed with students from Frederick County, surrounding counties, and even nearby states. These students were participating in an activity where they were to act as delegates of different countries’, research global issues, and debate on those issues during a conference simulating an actual United Nations conference. Nine of those auditorium seats were occupied by Walkersville students who were prepared to debate on topics including Immigration in the European Union, Cyberterroism, Global Strategies to Promote Mental Health, the Role of Indigenous Peoples in Land Ownership and Political Participation, and more. Present as well was Ms. Kuske who chaired the World Health Organization (WHO) and Mrs. Lugo Goff who co-chaired the International Organization for Migration – French Committee.
The French Committee was this year’s new addition to Model UN and Freddy Aurel Kamdem, a fellow Walkersville student, walked out with a medal. This committee was conducted entirely in French including both the position papers and debate. Kamden was asked about his experience and he said, “It was amazing! I had the opportunity to represent France and debate on important topics like immigration and security. The experience was enriching and allowed me to develop my communication and teamwork skills.” He expressed his new interest in diplomacy and negotiation, along with mentioning some of his favorite moments of the day. He said, “There was a moment when we managed to find a compromise with another country on a tricky issue. It was a moment of triumph and relief, and it gave me confidence in my abilities.” Ultimately, Kamden enjoyed his time in the French Committee and would recommend for anyone to join. Even if it’s Model UN in general, he says it’s a great opportunity and valuable learning experience.
As the co-chair for the French Committee, Mrs. Lugo wanted to share her thoughts over what she experienced, but only one word came to mind and that word was “beautiful.” The French delegates were full of power and confidence; they fully embraced their language just how it should be. After being left amazed, she spoke with the only words she had left and said, “Even though I didn’t understand a word, I think it’s beautiful that they were able to express themselves and stay in that language.”
The Spanish Committee is also a recent addition. It was added last year. In this committee, similar to the new French Committee, the delegates write their position papers and debate entirely in Spanish. A year ago, both Mia Juarez and Fatima Peralta participated in the committee. Fatima, a recent graduate, researched Canada’s stance on a crisis in Haiti and brought two medals to Walkersville.
This year, Juarez signed up for the Spanish Committee once again but was joined by Elias Goff, Aaliyah Montoya Flores, and Tanya Hernandez Chavez. They each represented their own country, wrote position papers, and debated in Spanish concerning the issue of indigenous people’s land and representation in politics. All these students are part of the Spanish National Honor Society (SNHS) and brought home three medals. Flores, the SNHS vice president, represented Costa Rica. Chavez, a SNHS member, represented Guatemala and won the Best Position Paper award. Goff, the president of SNHS, represented Peru and won the Outstanding Position Paper award. And lastly, Juarez, the SNHS secretary, represented Ecuador and won the Outstanding Delegate award. “I would definitely recommend the Spanish Committee and the other committees. It’s a great opportunity to learn about the things going on in the world. My personal experience was really good. I’ve done it for the past two years and it paid off in the end,” said Juarez.
Spanish teacher and advisor for SNHS and Model UN, Mrs. Lugo Goff, helped guide the Spanish Committee by giving them informational resources and her personal assistance. “I created an organizer so that they could research their country, I provided websites so that students could research current newspapers and read about their country, and I made sure that we all met occasionally so that we could discuss their progress,” said Mrs. Lugo. She also felt it was important to encourage the students, to help them feel confident in the Spanish debate about politics, and not at all intimidated. Adding on to that, she mentioned her goals for every student in Model UN: “To learn more about the world around them and learn about things that happen outside of the US, so we don’t live isolated and instead know that what happens in the world affects us also.” But in the end, Mrs. Lugo is beyond proud of the students, especially knowing how Walkersville is doing so well in the foreign language committees. She wrapped it up by saying, “We have doubled the medals from last year and we are excited to bring them home to Walkersville, but it truly wasn’t about bringing home the medal, I’m just so grateful and thankful that students go to Model UN and experience something new.”
Apart from the foreign languages committees, Model UN offers a variety of different committees to participate in and multiple urging topics to debate over. Students from Walkersville participated in some of those such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the General Assembly 2, and the Security Council.
Emily Navas and Eli Nutakor participated in the WHO committee which usually focuses on fighting diseases and achieving better health globally; it works on finding solutions to ensure a good atmosphere and ways to provide vaccines and medicines. This year the topic was about globally promoting youth mental health. Navas explained, “I initially joined the club, because Ms. Kuske recommended it to me and I personally was kinda interested in the new experience it has to offer, as well as I love any opportunity for public speaking and research.” Apart from Nutakor, who represented Luxembourg, Navas represented Brazil and went on to describe different moments during the committee, some that she felt were full of debate and where the other delegates were very interactive. She said, “After a few unmoderated caucuses there seemed to be a steady pace and lot more of debates and disagreements on a resolution, yet it felt more comfortable because everyone was starting to get the hang of it and speaking out more.” She then continued to add: “I definitely felt like a memorable moment for me was when I got passed a bunch of notes from other delegates with questions and wanting to collaborate.” In the end, Emily enjoyed her time there and would recommend it, in fact, she gave some advice: “Don’t worry so much, if you try your best and have a good mindset entering the conference then you’ll find yourself doing better than you ever thought you would and even make some new friends out of it!!”
Other Walkersville students who participated in Model UN include Yeabsera Shotela and Isa Melean Urduneta. Urdaneta was a part of General Assembly 2 which usually revolves working through international issues, such as international law and development. This year, she researched and debated Italy’s stance on the topic of Reconstruction and Development in Fragile Nation States Post Conflict. Shotela was a part of the Security Council, representing Denmark as she and the other delegates researched and debated over Cyberterrorism. This committee is all about the maintenance and restoration of international peace and security. “It is a smaller group of delegates than usual Model UN committees, so it was a lot more informal and allowed for more interaction between all of the delegates,” said Shotela. She went more in depth in what she personally did during the conference: “I helped in drafting the second resolution with Greece. The main plan was to use data from major tech companies like Meta, Google, Microsoft, etc and collect user data and use it as surveillance to detect any threat of cyberattacks.” According to Shotela, the Security Council is super interesting, interactive, and she would recommend it as an experience for others.
Ultimately, January 10th was a chance for students to dress up in business formal attire and show off their knowledge about different countries and the most topical issues. These topics go from discussing indigenous populations to youth mental health, but it’s clear that all committees are interesting, unique and fitting to every student delegate. And despite the gloomy weather, with the rain clicking on the windows and darkening the sidewalks, the French Committee made a beautiful entrance to its first year running. Walkersville had one of the largest foreign delegations at Model UN this year and managed to bring home four medals! The advisors, Ms. Kuske and Mrs. Lugo Goff, hope to double the number of delegates next year. Clubs and extracurricular activities at Walkersville range from sports to honor societies to theater and more, but Model UN is perfect for those who love public speaking and debate along with those interested in diplomacy and politics. But to close it off this year, make sure to congratulate Walkersville’s participants! And maybe we’ll see you next year?
