Model UN Team in Montreal

Last month, WPGA's Model UN team once again attended the Secondary Schools Model United Nations Symposium (SSUNS) in Montreal. Ms. Lee, Ms. Boland and Mr. Garinger accompanied an enthusiastic team comprising 14 senior school delegates. (In fact, this year's delegation was the youngest in WPGA history, with 13 of the 14 team members in grades 8 to 10.) 

The tournament was an outstanding opportunity for us delegates. We had prepared for months, educating ourselves on topics ranging from children's rights worldwide to international cyberwarfare to causes of the Korean War. We participated in many different committees, assuming the roles of nation-states, government officials and diplomats on the simulated United Nations stage.

Ours was an extremely cohesive team, and the memories and bonding we shared were priceless. We are proud to have brought home some hardware, too: Tiffany Chang (grade 8) achieved an honourable mention award for her committee participation, Tyson Dennis-Sharma (grade 9) placed second in his (bilingual!) committee, and I was fortunate to have won a first place award (Lester B. Pearson Award for Peacekeeping) in my committee, which focused on North Korea’s role in the Korean Wars.

Overall, the six-day experience was magnificent, and we sincerely thank our teachers for their time, energy and support. The team looks forward to imparting our newfound wisdom on next year’s delegates and to returning to SSUNS in 2014.

I encourage all of you interested in pursuing Model UN to take part in SSUNS next fall--it is a trip of a lifetime.