SHS Students Compete in Boston College Model UN Conference

SHS+juniors+Maddyn+McDonald%2C+Grace+Sullivan%2C+Stephanie+Murphy%2C+Abby+LaBreck%2C+Annie+Sullivan%2C+Grace+Oliveri%2C+Micheal+OKeefe+and+Kat+English+at+BC+MUN.+Photo+Courtesy+of+Kat+English.

SHS juniors Maddyn McDonald, Grace Sullivan, Stephanie Murphy, Abby LaBreck, Annie Sullivan, Grace Oliveri, Micheal O’Keefe and Kat English at BC MUN. Photo Courtesy of Kat English.

Colleen Quinn, Staff Writer

This fall for Model UN, SHS students stayed local, attending the Boston College Eagle Model UN Conference, also known as “EagleMUNC.” Boston College was the chosen destination because SHS has attended this conference before and it has “run smoothly” and is a “very organized conference” run by students at BC.

One of the head officers, Annie Sullivan, explained the process by which the trip was planned. After the fall conference to Vanderbilt University, the four head officers and club advisors, Michael Matisoff and Heather Willinger, started planning for the spring conference. Due to the limited spots on the trip, the club held tryouts for positions, where they had to participate in a mock conference and write a position paper, the best 47 making the cut to go on the trip. Once the group was established, they would meet every Thursday after school to work on their public speaking and position paper.

The group left Friday morning before school, taking a bus to Boston, where they spent the first day before the conference touring art museums. Sullivan explained how it is a tradition to go on trips as a group before the conference. The opening ceremony was Friday night. There were conferences all day Saturday, with the annual delegate dance on Saturday night, and the final conferences and closing ceremony on Sunday.

SHS student Katherine English attended the trip, describing it as an “exciting experience” with a “wide variety of people from around the world.” Comparing to other trips, it was closer to home and an overall shorter trip because it was only a one weekend conference.

Both Sullivan and English thought the conference ran well and is able to teach students in a different way than school does.