“Low-key, illicit weapons, TSPMO, and yes delegates, illicit weapons do [irritate me], the country of Bangladesh, off. However, I have a plan: the DISARM plan, a plan to ensure that illicit weapons don’t PMO anymore,” said a delegate representing Indonesia from Brambleton Middle School.
That interactive and attention-grabbing speech kicked off Carson Middle School’s second-ever Model United Nations conference, RCMUN, which took place on May 1.
Rishav Thakkar, a seventh-grader on the Dream Team, shares his thoughts about how the event went.
“The conference overall went really well,” he said. “But we had a few hiccups, like one of the committees being in the wrong room. We fixed it pretty fast though.”
Students from schools like Rocky Run, Brambleton, and Frost came to Carson for the conference. The Carson MUN team, which students have to try out for, was in charge of running the entire event, from setting up rooms to managing debate.
Arohi Vamshi, an eighth-grader on the Explorers Team, said MUN is based on the United Nations, an organization with the goal of maintaining international peace and security.
“Model United Nations, or MUN, is a simulation of the actual United Nations,” she said. “Students act as delegates representing countries and debate real global problems. The goal is to work together and come up with realistic solutions.”
Before the event, students signed up for specific committees. Each one focused on a different issue, like nuclear disarmament or environmental protection.
Zach Paul, 14, on the Dolphins Team, explains how MUN is broken in to two main parts.
“There are two parts of debate,” he said. “Mods are when people take turns giving speeches. Unmods are when you move around, talk with other delegates, and start writing your resolution.”
During unmods, the room came to life. Students moved between groups, shared ideas, and began forming alliances to draft solutions.
Rishav explains more about Unmods.
“In unmods you had to actually do something and be a leader,” Rishav said. “You couldn’t just sit there. You had to actually talk and do stuff.”
Carson MUN team members acted as chairs, leading each committee and keeping everything on schedule.
Arohi shares her experience about how chairing committees can be nerve racking.
“I was kind of nervous at first,” Arohi said. “But once things started, it felt really cool to be in charge and help other schools have a good experience.”
Even students new to MUN started speaking up as the debates went on.
Zach describes how his committee evolved.
“At first it was quiet,” Zach said. “But by the end, everyone was raising their placards and getting involved.”
