Bora Zaloshnja and Nora Hashem

As the 2014-2015 school year comes to an end, students begin to relax, and get ready for a summer surely filled with fun and inevitably lots of laziness. However, the McLean Model United Nations team has no time to relax, as they will be traveling to India in late July to compete in an international conference and to tour India.

“It’s crazy that we are going to India. But we are super excited and hope to do really well,” said the club’s president, junior Abraham Haji. Previous to this conference, the club has only attended high school and college conferences. In the 2014-2015 school year, McLean Model UN only went to one overnight conference at the University of Virginia. After an outstanding year filled with awards for the club, an international trip seemed like the right idea to elevate the club to the next level.

“We’ve received awards at the collegiate level, which is pretty much the highest level of competition for high schoolers in the country. At VAMUN [the conference at the University of Virginia] we competed against other high schoolers from across the country and held our own,” said Haji. This conference will be the first international conference for the club, however other future international conferences are in the cards for the club. Possible destinations for the club include Russia and Holland.

Although the purpose of the trip to India is to compete at a mock United Nations conference, the club will also tour India. Delegates will have a chance to sightsee and experience the culture of India, along with the trip’s chaperone, Dr. Reilly.

Participating in international conferences is the natural direction this club has been headed in. After seeing a huge spike in membership numbers, McMUN has been doing increasingly well. The club has even participated in conferences as prestigious as the North American Invitational at Georgetown University. The only thing left for McLean’s MUN team to do was compete at an international level.

While winning awards at this conference would be amazing, simply participating will be equally as rewarding as a gavel. The ability to learn, grow, and see international policy making done by committees made up of a truly international crowd will give McMUN’s delegates a unique perspective and an edge over other Northern Virginia Model UN teams.

As most McLean students jump into pools and soak up the summer sun, a few will be sitting behind their computers, toiling away on their policy papers to make sure they are absolutely perfect. Some may see this as a sad way to spend a summer, but those dedicated delegates don’t. When late July comes around it will all be worth it for them as they debate international issues on an international level. Win or lose, Mclean’s Model UN team will be doing something great.