Model United Nations is an opportunity for students to get hands-on experience in international affairs and attend a conference that mimics the actual United Nations convention.

Last week, on April 10-12 thirteen students from Wilsonville attended the Model UN conference at the University of Oregon. Students attended six sessions over the course of three days where they discussed various global issues such as climate change and human rights violations.

The conference had students from all over the state, and students represented various countries from around the world. Wilsonville’s students represented Sweden, Finland, Belgium, and Greece.

Nafay Faisal is a junior who represented Sweden at the conference thought, “Hearing about all the different countries position on different topics really opened my mind to how different countries handle different problems around the world.”

Every student prior to the conference had to write a position paper about a global issue and their assigned country’s position on that topic.

Then, they had to get their paper credentials from a high schooler from another school. To be able to attend the conference, your position paper must pass.

Model UN helps students not only grow their knowledge on foreign affairs but it also helps students gain confidence in public speaking.

Ambassador of Finland Vivian Ward said, “When I first got there it was definitely a shock, and I was nervous every time I got up to speak I was shaking and sweating. As the conference went on I definitely started to feel more confident.”

This year, Wilsonville no longer has speech and debate as a club; it is only a class. To make up for that, Model UN is a great way for students to work on their public speaking before college.

Ward continued, “I would 100% recommend Model UN as an experience. I think it’s a great way to collaborate with other high schoolers and solve global issues. It was also really cool to hear other people’s perspectives and get to hear debates.”