From November 6th to the 9th, several students from Lightridge’s Model United Nations (MUN) team made the journey to The College of William and Mary for one of the largest high school MUN conferences in the country. The event brought together more than 1,000 delegates from across the country to collaborate and solve global issues.

Model United Nations is a club where students take on the role of diplomats. 

“We get to represent a country or a topic and work with others to solve real world problems” said Junior Aaaya Mahendravadi. 

During the weekend, members had to represent their country by researching their positions on international issues and debating the topics with other delegates. Some dealt with modern global issues, others dealt with more historical situations. “For example, juniors Prabh Deol and Santhosh Sekar represented the country of Liberia and had to research hybrid and asymmetric warfare” said Model UN advisor Mollie Safran. 

Even outside of the competition, the members said that the event was fun and memorable. “I genuinely enjoyed it. Walking around Williamsburg in between sessions, getting food downtown, and grabbing Starbucks way too many times a day definitely made the trip fun” said Junior Kani Salh

Overall, the William & Mary conference gave MUN members the opportunity to grow as delegates, explore a college campus, and connect with others around them. “Meeting new people, talking to other delegates, and socializing were some of the best parts of the whole experience.” said Salh.