Butterflies fluttered in the stomachs of students in McLean’s Model United Nations team, as the award for the best large school was announced.

“Without further ado, the Best Large School award goes to Wooten High School,” said Sawfat Choudhury, Secretary-General of Thomas Edison’s Model UN team and head of the conference. 

Cheers erupted from the far side of the auditorium. Even though McLean did not win a coveted school award at the Thomas Edison Model United Nations Conference, McLean’s first local conference of the year, the experience that novice delegates received will be a key to future success. 

“I didn’t really know what I was doing until I went to my first conference,” McLean’s Co-Secretary General Sophie Howery said. “The meeting is there to give you the tools to do well but it really comes down to going to a conference.”

In addition to competing, freshman delegates were able to experience what it takes to prepare for a high school conference.

“We were having speaking practice sessions, Crisis-[a type of model UN committee]- training, and researching [our] topics all week,” Howery said. 

In what has largely been viewed as a rebuilding year for the team, novice having experiences such as these will be important for future success. In addition, leaders of McLean MUN hope that a more inclusive team environment will help retain these new delegates.

“ I think that in the past we have been viewed as an exclusive club,” Howery said. “We have really tried to change that this year with team dinners and other team building activities.”

New attitudes and new delegates provide a hopeful outlook for future conferences. For now, though, Howery is satisfied with her team’s result.

“I know not everyone got the award that they wanted,” Howery said. “But we did well, and we will continue to improve.”