The Arcadia High School (AHS) Model United Nations (MUN) team and individually competing AHS students attended BruinMUN on Nov. 11 and Nov. 12, located at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). BruinMUN is one of the most prestigious conferences nationwide, accepting delegates from countries all around the world. This year, the conference had over 2,000 delegates in attendance across 26 committees. As delegates, AHS attendees discussed real-world issues and simulated the actual United Nations (UN) to find solutions for various problems plaguing the world today.
MUN typically combines three main skills: public speaking, diplomacy, and debate. Delegates, typically representing countries and acting as politicians or crisis members, attend a conference with topics designated by their specific committee. A committee of delegates, judged by a dais, acknowledges certain topics through speeches, moderated caucuses, unmoderated caucuses, to draft a resolution. Moderated caucuses are essentially speeches based on topics chosen by delegates, unmoderated caucuses are discussions between delegates, and resolutions are documents between various delegates highlighting solutions addressing the issue the committee has gathered for. To prepare for the conference, delegates typically write a position paper explaining the topic with information including a basic topic background, domestic policy, the UN’s involvement, and proposed solutions. Delegates can win awards like research awards, Honorable Mentions, Commendation, Outstanding, and Best Delegate.
“The conference logistics were amazing. However, in my own personal opinion, my performance was not optimal because of many different errors I made inside the conference. However, I understand from these mistakes that I can then improve for other conferences.”
— William Pan
To prepare for the conference, Pan created a set of solutions and read the background guide to create a binder. A binder typically has all of the documents one needs for a conference, like their position paper or speech. The AHS MUN club also held a series of Friday workshops discussing a variety of things ranging from Committee Flow to a Pre-Conference Simulation.
The AHS MUN team’s next conference is KNIGHTSMUN hosted by The Bishop’s School. The AHS MUN team meets every Tuesday during lunch, where club members participate in activities ranging from Kahoots to speeches. In April 2024, the AHS MUN club is co-hosting their own conference, SGVMUN (San Gabriel Valley MUN), which will be held at Arcadia High School.
Amazing job AHS MUN!
Photo courtesy of AHS MUN
