Hackley’s Model UN is on a mission to “rewrite history” while now also creating its own.  Students in Model UN role-play leaders of countries in the United Nations to delegate conflicts from the past and recreate their results at conferences around the region. There are a few sections per conference, and they each have a different topic that to discuss.

For the past few years, the club has been relatively small, with only eight members last year. Model UN now has 30 members, and sophomore Alex Wenstrup predicts that Model UN will only get bigger. “I am amazed by how quickly the team is growing… I hope to continue the growth of the club, and in doing so I can see us easily hitting 50 members next year,” he said.

The Club’s repuatation has also been growing with its membership. Hackley’s Model UN club attended a conference at Pelham Public school and walked away with numerous accolades for each section of the conference.

The Arab Spring section discussed the moral and ethical aspects of the conflict as well as developed a solution to end the violence between the governments and civilians in countries affected by the Arab Spring in the Middle East. From this section, sophomore Connor Larson received Best Delegate, and sophomore Christina Wang Outstanding Delegate. In the Russian Revolution category, Frances Schaeffler received Honorable Mention, and freshman Raghav Chopra received Best Delegate. The Star Wars category debated the effectiveness of diplomacy “which inevitably led to war, the outcome of which would be determined mostly by trade agreements,” said Alex. From this section, sophomore Max Tannenbaum received best delegate, sophomore Ben Ostfield received Outstanding delegate, and sophomore Alex Wenstrup received Honorable Mention.

While Model UN allows students to learn more about historical events and the politics behind them, it also provides students with confidence, problem solving skills, and speech skills that will both aid them for their time at Hackley and when they graduate as well. Model UN allows students “who are interested in diplomacy or other careers encompassing advocacy” to be exposed to “diverse viewpoints and perspectives in their conferences”, said junior Ashley Halloran.

Preparing for the delegation at conferences has a similar course load as preparing for a test. If you’re interested in joining, you should know that “there is research to be done for each topic and so the workload can be demanding, but definitely manageable if spread out over a course of time,”  said Ashley.

Even though it may involve work, “preparation is also a pretty relaxing activity and I find that Model UN is great at keeping me up to date with current events,” said Alex.

To join the club there is “virtually a non-existent amount of research, you get to make your own schedule, doing as much or as little work as you want. You get just as much out of it as you put in,” said Alex.

While Model UN serves as a good way to challenge yourself academically and stay informed with events around the world, it is also a way to meet new people and be a part of a great group.

“I’ve found that the kids who I’m surrounding myself with are going to end up shaping who I am as a person… Model UN is a great community. Everyone is supportive with research, and we really work as a team, even though we all represent different positions,” said Alex. The team is attending their next conference at Cornell from April 14 through 17 for a three day overnight, and is hoping to find the same success there that they found in Pelham. “I can personally guarantee it will be loads of fun,” said Alex.