by Yesha Thakkar
Two Model United Nations (MUN) juniors, Xander Siegelman and Tali Falk-Judson, received an “Outstanding Delegate” award together at their recent conference, Tufts University Model United Nations (TUMUN), last weekend. According to Siegelman, an officer of MUN, the conference was successful and enjoyable.
Senior Max Teszler, a Secretary-General alongside senior Lukas Alexander, added that this conference was among their smaller ones, with only a few hundred people participating. “It was good because it was in the local area, which gave us a chance to go to a school locally and discuss issues,” he said.
Siegelman and Falk-Judson won the award for their discussion on Urban Development Migrant Crisis.
The conference, being the penultimate of the year, provides an opportunity for new members to join MUN. According to Siegelman, the team provides an enriching, self-advocative experience. “It’s fun because I get to speak up about what I want to,” he said. “I definitely recommend students to join Model UN. As part of the team, you’re learning to create solutions. You get to represent a real country’s opinions.”
Teszler described the experience of participating on the team. He said, “In Model UN, you’re representing a country, person, or historical figure, and your job as a committee is to come up with the best solutions you can and get your viewpoint adopted by the chair of your committee.”
“Model UN is very different from other teams in Newton North in the way that you can learn negotiating skills and have discussions with delegates,” Teszler said. “In the end, it’s about solving real-life issues.”
While this conference marked MUN’s last major conference this year, the team is looking forward to several large-scale conferences in the next school year. In early November, the team will attend the Brown University Simulation of the United Nations (BUSUN).