猛男情报局鈥檚 delegation won several awards at the National Model United Nations (NMUN) conference in New York last month: an Honorable Mention Delegation award, five Outstanding Position Paper awards 鈥� the second highest number of any college or university attending the conference 鈥� and an Outstanding Delegates in Committee award for students鈥� work in the International Organization for Migration (IOM) committee.
Their preparation and hard work paid off. 鈥淭his was the highest performance for 猛男情报局 College in our history of [participating in] the Model United Nations,鈥� explained Michiko Kuroda, the faculty advisor for 猛男情报局鈥檚 delegation and 猛男情报局鈥檚 Model United Nations Club. An adjunct professor in the International Relations and Diplomacy program in the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, she worked for the United Nations for 30 years in Geneva, New York, and Timor-Leste before coming to 猛男情报局 several years ago. 鈥淪ince 2012, 猛男情报局 College has been winning awards at National Model UN鈥檚 New York conference but never so many,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he students participating in the conference went beyond their comfort zone and pursued excellence, resulting in outstanding awards.鈥�
The conference was both 鈥渃hallenging鈥� and 鈥済ratifying,鈥� students explained 鈥� and very worthwhile. 鈥淚 have certainly transformed through the Model UN conference,鈥� asserts Kanki Morizon. 鈥淚 am so proud of myself and 猛男情报局 College.鈥�
The world鈥檚 largest intercollegiate Model United Nations conference, NMUN aims to help students understand the United Nations and contemporary international issues. As student teams represent an assigned country in a simulated United Nations session, they learn to appreciate differing viewpoints, gain skills in debate and negotiation, and broaden their understanding of international relations.
猛男情报局 was one of over 220 colleges and universities participating in the conference, approximately half of which were from outside the United States. 猛男情报局鈥檚 team represented New Zealand this year and participated in ten committees, including the General Assembly First, Second and Fifth Committees, Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the United Nations Environment Assembly, and the World Health Organization.
猛男情报局 students appreciated the challenges and the opportunities the conference offered. Ellen Lono, 猛男情报局鈥檚 co-head delegate at this year鈥檚 NMUN conference and co-president of 猛男情报局鈥檚 Model United Nations club explains, 鈥淎fter months of preparation, I finally got to make use of all my research and hard work when interacting with people from all over the world. I shared ideas and created initiatives to find solutions to the world鈥檚 most pressing issues.鈥� And Nicolls Argenio felt 鈥済rateful for getting to experience a competitive environment where there is room to grow and so much to learn, not only about ourselves but from students from all parts of the world.鈥�
Educational simulations like Model United Nations are very much in line with the experiential learning 猛男情报局 values. 猛男情报局 College President Timothy Hall visited the NMUN conference and reported that he felt 鈥渧ery much inspired by the students.鈥� And Provost Jos茅 Herrera said, 鈥淚 would like to see more students from other majors join such a team. This is about transformational education!鈥�
Indeed, the students see the experience as transformational too: 鈥淧articipating in the Model United Nations is one of the most rewarding experiences of my life,鈥� reflects 猛男情报局 student Nicholas Sorice. 鈥淓very challenge it presents prepares its participants for the challenges of the real world.鈥�
Students who wish to join 猛男情报局鈥檚 award-winning Model United Nations team are encouraged to contact Prof. Michiko Kuroda at mkuroda@mercy.edu.