After weeks of preparing their position papers, Model United Nations club members will argue their cases at their next conference at University of California, Berkeley on March 6-8. 

Model UN, a student-run club, teaches members debate skills as they emulate United Nations meetings. Students act as delegates and present talking points and position papers at meetings and conferences, according to history teacher Bruno Vetter, who moderates the club.

“The team is extremely self sufficient and I’ve been incredibly impressed with the student leadership,” Vetter said. “The students are 100% on top of it.”

Since their conference in November, which was also held at UC Berkeley, students have been meeting once a week to prepare and have been researching the countries and positions they will be representing at the conference, according to sophomore Clementine Mohun.

“We have meetings where we discuss the topics that will be addressed in the meetings or just focus on our own topics,” Mohun said. “If we have a specific country assignment, we’ll also talk about that to prepare to represent that country.”

The Model UN team set a new record during the conference in November, winning multiple awards, and every Convent student on the coed team was recognized. The awards included commendations and recognitions of outstanding work for their public speaking and personal directives, according to junior Lili Levy.  

“Our school won more than one award for the first time,” Levy said. “We sent five delegations and four of us won awards.”

Students from across the Bay Area will gather at UC Berkeley in March to discuss and debate worldwide issues. The Model UN team will compete against schools in the city as well as other Bay Area schools.

“The conferences are really interesting because you get to work together to solve real world issues,” Mohun said. “I’m really confident with our team for this next conference.”

Some students in the club, including freshman Kate Loomans, will be participating in their first conference and will learn the process by experiencing how Model UN is run.

“I’ve really enjoyed learning about countries and their very different politics,” Loomans said. “I’m looking forward to representing our school delegation.”

Aside from learning about politics and policy, the club gives members other real-world skills, according to Levy.

“Model UN has helped me with my public speaking and presentation skills, as well as critical thinking,” Levy said. “As a junior, I definitely will participate next year. I’ve had a lot of fun.”