Florida High’s Model UN (MUN) club is hosting its very first FSUS MUN conference on Friday, April 3. This new endeavor comes with unique challenges, presents opportunities to learn and creates a chance to grow not just as a Model UN member, but as a club.
“Going into it, I’m expecting it to be very beginner-friendly since this is our first one. I don’t think it’ll be too rigorous…so it won’t be as much of a competition really, but it’ll still be a good experience for everyone who does it,” sophomore Adeline Osborne said.
For this first conference, Florida High is offering three committees: a general assembly (GA), specialized, and crisis committee. Despite this being her first year in Model UN, Osborne will lead the general assembly committee and help guide the delegates in their conflict resolution rather than competing in the event herself.
“At every single conference that I’ve attended, I’ve done GA because I love GA so much. I thought, maybe it’s time to try something new and maybe be a chair,” Osborne said. “[The committee] is going to be about ensuring access to mental health…and mental health treatments.”
Specialized committees combine aspects of both GA and crisis to create something distinct. At FSUS MUN, the specialized committee will take the form of a war room in the Pentagon, diverging from the traditional United Nations format.
“I am really excited [for] the committee that I will be managing. It is a crisis on World War II, and I have a lot of exciting updates and committee mechanics planned out,” Under Secretary-General of Fundraising Ayush More said. “I can’t wait to see how it plays out.”
Crisis committees are typically fast-paced, experimental committees with special events and secret delegate initiatives; Florida High intends to place its own spin on it, departing from the diplomatic origins of Model UN.
“The third [committee] is a crisis, which is my committee. That will be a Monopoly board game simulation, but all the delegates will be the pieces on the board or the board spaces themselves,” Deputy Secretary-General Adit More said. “I feel like this is going to be a learning experience for me. It’s going to be a chance for me to really work on my leadership skills, [such as] managing conflicts and keeping people in order.”
Organizing this conference has been a joint effort between all the officers, members and the sponsor of Model UN, Debbie Whetstone. Members gave their input on committee suggestions and have signed up to staff the event, displaying their eagerness to make the first FSUS MUN a reality.
“We’ve been wanting to do our own conference for a while, at least since I was a freshman…Seeing all these other schools post up their own conferences like Lincoln and Rickards, we thought, ‘Why can’t we do this ourselves? Why does this have to be a dream of ours?’” Secretary-General Sreyas Narayan said. “In my speech last year to run for president, I made this a promise, and we’re finally making it happen.”
FSUS MUN will provide the convenience of a conference that is both nearby and on a Friday without class for Florida High and other local students.
“I know some of them may not have the financial capabilities to go out of the city all the time or even anytime, or they may not be able to make it to TSMUN [here in Tallahassee] for other reasons. I feel that having our school [host a conference] really gives anyone in our school a chance to experience one for the first time in a less risky, low-commitment way,” Adit More said.
FSUS MUN will be a novel experience for everyone involved, leading to new opportunities and discoveries for those passionate about social change.
“In a way, it’s not just a training committee for delegates. It’s a training committee for the chairs as well, because a lot of them will probably try to pursue MUN in college…For a good amount of members on the Florida High MUN team, having this one-day conference…will allow them, along with their other friends and their chairs as mentors, to really let loose and see what they can do,” Adit More said.
