Scituate High School senior Anna Kelly attended a Model UN conference in Madrid, Spain, from March 7th-14th with the All-American Model UN Travel Team. The Harvard Model Congress organization hosted the conference, which designs yearly conferences in Boston, China, San Francisco, and Madrid. 

This was the 6th Model UN conference Kelly attended. Her first five conferences were through the SHS Model UN club, though Kelly’s first conference during her sophomore year was held virtually due to Covid. 

To be eligible for this international opportunity, students need leadership experience in Model UN and must receive a Model UN award. Kelly earned one Honorable Mention during last year’s April conference, EagleMUNC, sponsored by Boston College.  She also earned two Best Delegate awards this year: one in November at EmpireMUNC at New York University and another in February at the BOSMUN conference held through Boston University. 

All-American Model UN specializes in hosting workshops for delegates while also sponsoring domestic and international travel teams. This March, All-American traveled to Spain for a “Model Congress,” which is similar to Model UN. Though instead of having crisis committees, typical of a regular Model UN conference, a Model Congress consists of General Assemblies (GA) where delegates directly represent countries in international organizations. The Harvard Model Congress included delegates from countries all over the world, like India, Greece, and Germany. The American team included ten students from the U.S., who traveled separately from states all over the Eastern seaboard. Because an American university hosted the conference, the debates were in English despite the multilingual delegates.

As a Model UN delegate representing Argentina, Kelly was assigned to the Group of 20, an organization of 20 countries with the highest economies in the world. Her committee worked toward providing financial aid to developing nations and climate change in agriculture. Kelly said the highlight of her trip was the actual debate itself, along with the culture and food she was able to experience.

Kelly was first interested in All American Model UN because she met a student at BOSMUN Model UN in February 2022 who told her all about it. Although she thought about signing up for a summer program, she joined the email list, which is how she learned about the Madrid conference. 

According to the SHS Model UN advisor, SHS history teacher Kelly Trayers, Anna Kelly is a role model for her classmates: “She wants to share what she is passionate about and does it in a way that engages others,” Kelly’s history teacher and Model UN advisor, Heather Willinger, described her as “hard-working, intense, and passionate because she goes after what she wants.”

Kelly’s recent acceptance to her top college, Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., is evidence of her tenacity. Kelly plans on majoring in government and economics on a pre-law track. When asked about her advice for students interested in joining Model UN, Kelly said, “The first step is to just sign up and do it, and everything else you will learn a lot along the way.”