This year was the first year of the Coral Gables Model United Nations. Made up of 35 students and an amazing sponsor, Mr. Fitts, the team attended three conferences; two in Miami and one in Boston, MA. Despite it being the team’s first year, CGHS MUN was very successful in representing our school in these three occasions.

The Gulliver International Model UN conference was the first event of the year for the team. “I confess I was a little petrified to compete with the other schools because it was my first time in a conference this year,” says Karla Rivera, secretary of Model UN, “but after I was seated in my committee room I became confident and I even stood up to talk about my country which was France.” Nidya Sarria, vice-president of the club and Michelle Wu, treasurer of the club both received an award for Honorable Delegate for the country of France. Members, John McLeod, representing Israel, and Martin Llobell, as North Korea, also won an Honorable Delegate award.

The second conference of the year was in Boston, MA, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from February 11 to February 14, 2007. A very gratifying experience, the Sixth Annual Boston Model United Nations Conference gave Coral Gables students a broader insight on current events and on the structure of the United Nations. Martin Llobell and Antonio Sevilla, delegates in Crisis Committees, were even woken up in the middle of the night to deal with an emergency in their committees. Other delegates experienced made up crisis such as the death of Cuban president Fidel Castro and the nationalization of Venezuelan oil companies by President Hugo Chavez. “I had a lot of fun representing Barbados and aiding the international community in handling a crisis in Cuba as well as the effects in the world’s economy after Chavez’ decision. I hope that next year’s conferences are just as exciting,” says Diana Kattan, founder and president of the Coral Gables Model UN. In Boston, Gables students were also able to explore the city as well as visit colleges and universities.

The third conference of the year was the Second Annual Global Classrooms Miami Conference at FIU. Michelle Wu and Nidya Sarria both won Honorable Delegate, representing India and Diana Kattan and Karla Rivera won Best Position Paper representing the country of Djibouti.

“Participating in Model UN is an unforgettable experience. Besides fundraising for the out of state conference and writing position papers for our countries, we get the chance to meet delegates from other schools and to make a difference by finding solutions to current problems. It is up to us to make sure our assigned nations’ interests are represented in the resolutions we write in the committees,” says Michelle Wu, treasurer of the club.

The team hopes to host its own conference at Coral Gables next year as well as attend the two local conferences and travel to New York in January for the Columbia International Model United Nations Conference. Good luck to the Coral Gables Model United Nations and let next year be just as exciting!