McLean’s Model U.N. team competed Jan. 26-29 at the University of Pennsylvania’s Ivy League Model United Nations Conference (ILMUNC), which many high schools consider “the equivalent of the world championships for MUN,” according to senior and co-Secretary-General of the club Fatima Shahbaz.

This year was McLean’s first time competing at the conference. Sixteen students competed and earned McLean an Outstanding Small Delegation award. Shahbaz received an Outstanding Delegate award.

“[The school award] really brought me to tears almost, because I’ve watched the club grow over the past four years and put so much of my own time and effort into it,” Shahbaz said. “To see so many fantastic McLean delegates go and represent McLean so well in Philadelphia…it really did reaffirm my love for Model U.N., and made the last four years worth it.”

Senior Maddie Scherer said participating in such a challenging conference pushes delegates to work harder. Scherer and her partner senior Rebecca Rice received an Honorable Mention in their committee.

“Competing at any college conference is way more intense than the local circuit high school conferences, but ILMUNC in particular has a reputation for being a really competitive one,” Scherer said. “It really pushes you to work harder, research more and just overall be more prepared so that you can go in and know you have a shot at beating some really good delegates.”

Junior Riya Master said she is proud of the team’s success. Master and her partner senior Tashi Gyatso received a Verbal Commendation in their committee.

“I was so happy for everyone. Words can’t explain how proud I am of [seniors and co-Secretary Generals] Fatima [Shahbaz] and Alex [Brunner] for all the time they put into winning the Outstanding Small School Award. If anyone deserves it, they do for everything they have done for the team,” Master said. “Overall, it was a group effort of course, and it is because of everyone’s hard work that we did so well.”

Scherer said it was rewarding to see the team’s local success transfer to the college conference.

“It’s great being a senior and getting the opportunity to watch a lot of people grow into such awesome delegates who do so amazingly,” Scherer said. “As a team, we always do well at local conferences so it is always satisfying to see that transfer to college conferences where it’s exponentially harder.”