Recently students from  West Bloomfield High School’s (WBHS) Model United Nations club attending the National High School Model United Nations (NHSMUN) conference. Eight delegates from WBHS attended the conference, including Celine Foster, Jenna Rainey, Kenny Tobin, Maurice White, Andrew Schaeffler, Harkirat Singh, Ifrah Qureshi, and Ariba Tariq. This conference took place in New York City from March 2nd to March 5th for four days and three nights. They got the unique opportunity to compete with high school students from over 40 countries around the world.  These WBHS students who represented their school at this prestigious event were proud to do so.

According to Celine Foster, the competition was intense, and the days were long. She says,  “It was a little intimidating at first but once we got into the swing of things it was really interesting and a valuable experience”, and her fellow delegate Jenna Rainey agreed with her.

Rainey insisted that it was hard at first because of the amount of people, but she says that “once a lot of people start going up and talking you realize that it’s not as hard as it seems, and once you go up once and you keep going up and gets easier and easier.” Rainey and Foster both attended every single Model UN meeting in the weeks leading up to the conference, and prepared by researching their topics and studying parliamentary procedure.

At the start of each day, delegates had session for three hours, then a two hour break, and then another three hour session. This was very tiring for them because they would only be able to sleep at around midnight or 1:00 a.m. and still have to wake up early to caucus. Even though they were working most of the time, there were opportunities for delegates to explore New York City, which was Rainey’s favorite part of the conference. Rumor has it that the closing celebration hosted by NHSMUN at the end of the conference was totally lit. Both Rainey and Foster plan to attend the conference next year, as they said that it was a ton of fun and a great learning experience. Because she attended this conference, Foster feels she is an improved Model UN-er. She says, “I wouldn’t say that my debating/policy skills were sharpened up, but I would say that my experience with procedure and policy is much better than before.” Both of these skills are necessary for success in Model UN.

Overall, both Foster and Rainey, along with the other WBHS students who attended NHS MUN, all worked with students from around the globe to craft resolutions on a variety of topics. Along the way, they were able to make lasting friendships in an educational environment.