Four-peat for Model UN delegates at KSU Conference
Delegates rejoice with the cup after winning for the fourth year in a row.
May 1, 2015
NC’s awarding winning Model United Nations team attended the Kennesaw State University conference on April 25th. The event ended in success, with the team winning the Helen Ridley Cup for the fourth consecutive year, this time representing Russia.
Celebration exploded amongst the senior delegates.
Additional awards included delegation awards for Poland and India, and individual awards for sophomore Shelby Estroff representing Russia in GA Plenary, senior Anna Levy representing Russia in UNESCO, junior Dev Pandya representing India in The World Health Organization, junior Holden Haley representing Russia in Security Council, senior Sean Brennan representing Russia in the IAEA, senior Megan McMillan representing Russia in the EAPC, and senior Zach Connolly representing Russia in PBC.
Many seniors felt skeptical whether this year’s team could take home the cup for the fourth year in a row.
“We had fewer experienced delegates and we were adjusting to having smaller number of strong delegates. I felt that this year we had strong delegates but not nearly as strong as last year’s graduates,” senior Anna Levy said.
The event may serve as a change to such inexperienced delegates, as it strictly allows single delegations—a task that may intimidate some.
“I wasn’t eager to go in alone because I thought it would be more work on my part, and if I failed it would be my own fault,” sophomore Andrew Gasparini says. However, the conference proved a fun experience for him in the end. “It wasn’t scary because I’m a social person, so there was no intimidating feeling.”
While some delegates fear this independency, some enjoy it over partner delegations.
“This conference has smaller committees, making public speaking a bit easier. Its also independent so you have more freedoms in decision making,” sophomore Shelby Estroff said, who planned the conference.
Despite the numerous accolades won by the team, the KSU conference failed to offer a completely amazing experience for everyone. Starting last year, the conference was shortened from two days to just one, requiring the delegates to debate for a solid 9 hours.
“I felt that the KSU conference was too long, 8:00 to 6:00 is just too much. I normally sleep in on saturdays, and 10 hours is a long time to pay attention,” senior Zach Connolly expressed.
Delegates in the UN Environment Programme take advantage of their small size. “Although it was considerably smaller than it has been in years past– several schools were unable to attend because of conflicts with Prom and other spring semester obligations– I thought it was still well-run,” said Ms. Galloway.
Despite the minimal problems experienced, the conference proved its worth in the end, with this year’s seniors keeping the legacy of the KSU MUN Helen Ridley Cup (an accolade Connolly dubbed “The Four-peat”).
“I couldn’t be prouder of how well our students performed. Every time I went into a committee room to listen to the debate, I saw our students either on the speaker’s list or up and discussing working papers with their colleagues,” AP World History teacher and faculty adviser Ms. Galloway said. “Of course, I’m over the moon at the awards our students won, but I’m mostly proud of the fact that our students knew their positions and actively sought to find solutions to some of the world’s most persistent problems.”
