After many months of collaboration and hard work, the Model United Nations (MUN) team had the privilege of going to Vancouver to compete in the largest Model United Nations conference in Western Canada. The tournament was hosted by the University of British Columbia MUN delegation at the Hyatt Regency in Vancouver on January 17-19, 2020. The entire conference had the scope of taking up multiple conference rooms to hold parliamentary debate. Each committee was to hold simulations on how to solve global issues through the formatting of the United Nations. The conference held multiple simulation of committees, such as the Economics and Social Council: UN Commission on Population and Development, and the UN General Assembly Fourth Committee: Special Political and Decolonization Committee.
One of the key aspects that distinguishes the conference, is actually a press conference, where students are assigned a specific news outlet to represent, and are able to report and submit articles online. One of the students was a Skyline College student, Jacob Harding representing Israel Hayom, who actively reported and wrote articles on what was enacted at the conference. The articles can be found at: ubcmunipc.wordpress.com.
Ralph Alpay, a sophomore at Skyline College, as well as the Director of Marketing of MUN, was one of the students to attend the Canadian conference. He says: “The perspectives from different universities and international views was one of the most beneficial parts of experiencing an international conference”. As the Director of Marketing, Ralph also created a video on the club’s experiences which can be found here.
The college’s delegation was made up of six students who range in experience levels from beginner to intermediate and were able to exercise what they knew as well as gain new skills, polishing up their policy making skills, interpersonal relations, as well as their public speaking muscles.
This opportunity was one of the first times that SkyMUN as a delegation had the opportunity to go to an international conference. Through SkyMUN’s students, connecting and collaborating at UBCMUN 2020, the organization is building connections and relationships on an international level, connecting with the University of British Columbia’s delegation. This is with hopes of building and collaborating with other organizations on a global level as well. SkyMUN hopes to further build relationships with other organizations in the future.
Currently, SkyMUN is a proactive club that has goals to be involved on campus through collaborating with other organizations. SkyMUN actively welcomes new members who are interested in participating in debate both locally in weekly meetings at Skyline College, as well as those interested in travelling to participate in regional conferences and competitions. Please email skylinemun@gmail.com for more information.
Article by Mariegail Mijares
