On Thursday, April 18, when Fieldston’s illustrious Model United Nations club arrived in Ithaca in Upstate New York, after a long and uneventful drive from school, they had no clue about what would be in store for them over the next three days. In that time, the shuttles would strand the group multiple times by the shuttles from the hotel to Cornell’s campus and back, forced to scavenge for food (shout out to the Applebee’s at 2300 N Triphammer Rd, Ithaca, NY 14850) and find a way to stay up long enough for midnight crisis. Yet despite these difficulties, the Fieldston MUN club emerged even stronger, reinvigorated by the bonds forged during these troubling times. Hosted by the Cornell International Affairs Society (CIAS), the Cornell Model United Nations Conference (CMUNC) is one of the most important college conferences in the country, and fortunately, Fieldston Mun club members had the opportunity to go.
Model UN, an admittedly nerdy extracurricular, involves students role-playing as delegates to various UN committees and bodies, discussing and debating issues of global concern, drafting resolutions, and seeking diplomatic solutions to real-world problems. Model UN conferences can range from local to international levels and participants develop skills such as public speaking, negotiation, research, and teamwork. During this conference, I had the absolute pleasure of helping to protect the realm of Mystirria from the forces of the evil Shadow King.
In between braving the elements and figuring out the food situation, members of the Mun club who made the four-hour trek upstate worked hard: delivering grand and moving speeches, proposing and writing resolutions, forming alliances, and even making enemies. When it was all said and done, Fieldston snagged two awards, the best delegate award courtesy of Nathaniel Rozoff (Form V) for his performance as Walter Mondale on the 1964 election committee, and an honorable mention award bestowed to Gideon Grinberg (Form V) who represented Bulgaria at the League of Nations committee. All Fieldston students who attended argued and spoke strongly, yet ultimately were snubbed from the awards list or even a verbal commendation.
Rozoff, who won his second outstanding delegate award after winning the award on his committee last year at the Ivy League Model United Nations Conference (ILMUNC), describes the conference as being a success: “It’s awesome for us to find success as a club on these trips, and it shows how strong the team is.” He adds, “Everyone on our team did such a good job: from our leaders, our faculty advisor Dalia Kirzner, and our chaperones Hsia-Ting Chang and JarrettBrown.”
Despite the majority of club members (including myself) not winning an award, the hard work, dedication, preparation, and perseverance of those who went on the trip deserve to be recognized and commended. Overall, the success of our Model UN team represents a return to form for the Fieldston Model UN club as it demonstrates why it is arguably the best high school Model UN club in the city.
