By Alexander Rodriguez, Editor in Chief
On Nov. 22-25, more than 25 Aquinas students travelled to Chicago, Ill for the American Model United Nations (AMUN) conference.
This conference has been run for over 25 years, in which Aquinas has participated nearly every year. This year the classroom prepared for 3 different countries of Cambodia, Finland and Poland.
The delegates of Finland smile after the conference – Photo by Roger Durham
Led by Roger Durham and Alumni Quinn Devries, this group was ready to tackle their agenda topics in each delegation.
Each year, schools are assigned not only a country to represent, but they sign up for which agenda topic they would like to participate in. These are topics such as: economics, human rights, global disarmament, deep sea mining and more.
All schools and all countries are typically in the General Assembly (GA) 1st to 3rd along with GA Plenary. Only certain countries are represented in smaller organizations such as: Council on Economic and Social Affairs (ECOSOC) or the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The four day conference is exhausting for some, it seemed to be a worthwhile experience regardless of the hard work.
The delegates of Poland smiling after the conference – Photo by Roger Durham
“I enjoyed working with people who knew about a topic I had researched in the previous semesters, deep sea mining,” said Representative Leah Rohrer of Poland. “In this, I was able to discuss the topic and present solutions that aligned with Poland’s policy positions. I was very happy with the resolution I wrote. It not only passed, but did so with a clear majority.”
“I think the experience of AMUN was really amazing,” Representative Maliyah Boshoven of Poland said. “Going into it I was very nervous because it was my first time but after getting there it was way easier. Everyone was very kind and it was nice to work with new people to create resolutions.”
Each aspect of AMUN is allowing students a different opportunity to get to learn in a unique way and get to work with other students.
“It was an opportunity to practice legal research, specifically regarding international law and apply it in litigation,” Senior Representative Zackary Nosky of Cambodia said.
Representatives Aiden Butler and Zackary Nosky of Cambodia after their case – Photo by Roger Durham
Within this year, AMUN was a successful trip for these students, allowing them to practice their speaking, writing, and studying in a different way than a traditional classroom setting.
The Saint 