BY ZACH ESSIG, JUNIOR NEWS EDITOR
This past weekend, 24 Wilson students and two Wilson teachers traveled to the windy city, Chicago, for the University of Chicago Model United Nations Conference (MUNUC). The weekend was full of stimulating debate, frenzied speech-writing, and personal growth.
MUNUC is the largest model un conference in the Midwest, with approximately 2500 delegates attending each year. Delegates come from many different schools, states, and even countries. This was the 27th year of the conference, but the first year Wilson attended.
A typical day consisted of committee sessions, with breaks for meals and/or free time. Each committee session was a few hours long and there were usually two each day. In sessions, delegates discussed various aspects of the issues their body of the UN was addressing and wrote resolutions detailing plans the UN will take going forward. Junior Gabriella Saccocio represented Denmark in the United Nations Environment Programme, with the topic being the implementation of ecotourism in less economically developed countries. After countless hours of debate, Saccocio, along with other delegates, helped to pass a resolution outlining the appropriate course of action the UN should take with regard to ecotourism.
When not in committee sessions, the Wilson delegates had time to sightsee and travel around the Chicago area. Some highlights were going on the Ferris Wheel on the Navy Pier, going to the top of the John Hancock Tower, and riding the ‘L’, Chicago’s iconic raised rapid transit system. Some Wilson students even made it Northwestern University and the University of Chicago to take the opportunity to visit potential colleges.
Junior Ben Topa, a veteran of MUN, thought the conference “was a lot of fun,”. “We met kids from all over the U.S. and abroad and talked about solutions to real world problems. I learned a lot and had a great time with my friends, and would definitely go again,” said Topa. However, for many Wilson delegates, this was their first model un conference, including freshman Grace Mills. After attending the conference, Mills concluded that “it was a fun learning experience that [she] got to spend with [her] friends that [she’ll] never forget about.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF ZACH ESSIG
