Fieldston Students Win Model UN Delegation Award by Clara Tripp

On March 14, 2021, members of the Fieldston Middle School Model United Nations team took time out of their weekend to attend a Model UN conference. Despite being the youngest team present, the team won a delegation award — beating prestigious high school teams.

For those unfamiliar with the activity, Model UN is a simulation of the global organization United Nations, typically held in the form of a convention. Each participant is assigned to represent a different nation and attempts to tackle ongoing global issues from the perspective and policies of their country. I had the chance to briefly converse with two members of the winning team, Dahlia Zemmel and Alkis Karmpoliotis. Zemmel represented Belgium and Karmpoliotis had the fortune of being selected for Greece, where much of his family is from. “It was really nice to represent a country that I know about, and that I have a history with.”

Both agreed that overall, hard work, thorough research, and preparation were key to their success at the conference. “We try to take every conference very seriously,” said Zemmel. In fact, the team did not compete in several conferences prior to this one, in order to ensure they were fully ready, and their efforts clearly paid off. Usually, the team does not face high schoolers, and the environment was certainly different than usual — “a little harsher, a little scarier,” perhaps “not as friendly.” However, Zemmel reiterates the importance of diligence, explaining, “It doesn’t matter if we’re competing against high schoolers, middle schoolers — it’s not really about who you’re competing against, it’s about how hard you are working.”

The group does have a few more conferences coming up this spring, spread across the city, however, they will likely only face teams of their own age. The team will also continue throughout high school. For now, they’re still basking in the success, feeling “very happy with how the team performed.” Zemmel explains, “It’s a delegation award, which means that the school won together. So I’m very proud of everyone who went.”