Many people have questions about the O’Connell Model United Nations (MUN) club such as, what is Model UN? Is it a debate club? Do you really pretend to be countries? What even is the UN? To put it simply, a Model United Nations conference is a simulation in which students from different schools, representing different nations, come together to debate international issues, to come to an agreement on a shared solution. Now you may be wondering, well how would I get involved in the Model UN Club? The O’Connell Model UN club holds monthly meetings that are run by student officers in Mrs. Allgood’s room 337 during Knight Time. We also hold bi-monthly meetings for our competition team ‘The Security Council,’ which is still open for members to join. While a club that revolves around the skill of public speaking may seem intimidating, our club has created a welcoming environment for all students, whether they are new or not, to be able to join us and develop their diplomacy skills. 

So what has the model UN club done so far? Well, after having very little involvement in the past few years due to COVID-19, four of the most active members, Patrick Fleenor (Secretary General), Sophia Carney (Under-Secretary General), Amelia Jones (Secretary), and Autumn Zeoli (Treasurer), have come together to form an executive committee for our 70+ member club that aims to attend at least two conferences a year, as well as facilitate various student-run workshops. Just this past week the MUN club attended a mock-model UN conference aimed at teaching inexperienced delegates the run-down of how conferences generally work. More experienced delegates were able to attend workshops that intended to sharpen their skills and give them advice from experienced delegates. 

So, does this really still seem all that intimidating? Well even if it looks that way, the Bishop O’Connell MUN club is open to anyone who wants to check it out and be a part of our welcoming community. For those who are excited to become involved, come and join us! We are looking forward to having you here.