9 members of our Model United Nations club represented AISM last week at AISJ’s annual conference JoMUN XXI, with amazing experiences and great results to show for it, including Best Delegate and an Honorable Mention awards. Reporting by Felix and Mr Rui Model United Nations is a well-established part of international school culture, recognised for the opportunity it gives students in Middle and High School to really develop their global knowledge and professional language skills. Our own club has grown a great deal this year, with over 25 members now regularly attending the weekly session on Thursdays after school. Nine of our MS and HS students, along with Miss Anna, Mr Rui and security team Alfredo and Cesario, travelled by bus over to the AISJ campus and the long journey was more than worth it after 5 days of intense research, debating, public speaking, and hanging out with lots of new friends from the ten African schools attending the conference. Our team was hugely successful and two of the group - Team Nepal! - even walked away with prestigious awards: Vihaan was voted Best Delegate in the Security Council, whilst Shailee was given an Honorable Mention in the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (SPDC). An amazing achievement for the two of them. We should also mention Sam and Felix, who were two of the youngest delegates at JoMUN and managed to more than hold their own. Praise should also be given to Arthur, Jaya and Liam who only joined the MUN club this year, but still had the courage to represent the school and to take the mic whenever they could. Lucas and Margo completed the team and also contributed a lot, with Margo’s calm style helping to keep things moving along nicely and Lucas bringing the laughs and passion. What did the team feel they got out of this experience? What has joining the MUN club and participating in JoMUN given them? Here are some of their thoughts: Jaya - “I brought out my true potential, my Barack Obama-ness. You get to confidently disagree with people. I feel like a new level of confidence has been unblocked in me.” Margo - “I learned in a much more nuanced way how MUN works and each time you speak publicly it becomes more and more comfortable.” Shailee - “Winning the award was really pleasing, of course. It gives me the confidence that I have the ability to express myself and that people will then respond to this.” Vihaan - “You get to have fun formally, in a sense. People get stuff out; they find their passions for speaking, writing, negotiating, whatever fits best for them. For me, winning Best Delegate means being a man of politics and having a keen ability to persuade others.” Sam - “This is reat for our resumes and general development. You learn how to liaise with people, but you need to research to know what you are talking about!” Arthur - “You learn new methods of speaking and improve language capabilities. You meet like-minded peers, so the social aspect is also memorable. It really feels like real world skills are being developed.” Liam - “It really sparks your curiosity and opens new doors, socially and academically. You get to, in a fun way, challenge people.” Lucas - “It’s hard work and you get a bit sleep-deprived for a few days, but it’s well worth it. You develop new passions and you can’t really explain such a beautiful experience, bringing your ideas to life like this.” Hopefully, more and more of our students will get into the MUN world and have experiences like this one. If you are interested in joining the club, speak to Vihaan, Margo, Felix or Sam. The club meets on Thursdays after school.
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Reporting by Felix At the start of the season, our Model United Nations Team welcomed new leadership, marking the end of an era & the start of a new one. With the start of the new MUN season, all eyes are on Vihaan and Felix - HS and MS MUN Presidents respectively) - and new Vice Presidents Margulan (HS) and Samuel (MS). The Leadership team was chosen after a multitude of rousing speeches and fruitful debate, with experience winning the day for these candidates. They quickly demonstrated their value to the club this week by organising a well-structured session where participants got into teams and took on the role of countries such as France, Iran and South Africa to discuss issues ranging from the need to preserve endangered languages to the looming possibility of space colonisation. The session was organised to help 10 of our students to prepare for their participation at JOMUN, the Model United Nations Conference held at the American International School of Johannesburg Sept 28-30. Rest assured that our reporters will be there on site to keep you posted on their progress. With new beginnings comes fond farewells and one such moment came in the final goodbye for outgoing President Abigail. Abi gave an emotional speech and the club can only thank her for bringing real energy and critical thinking to the role over the past year. Thank you Abi! And good luck to Felix, Vihaan, Margo and Sam. To enquire more about Model UN, students are advised to contact one of the team. The MUN Club ASA runs on Thursdays after school in MP2. |
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