A group of 12 members of the school’s Model United Nations (MUN) club participated virtually in the Marymount Model United Nations Conference (MM-MUN) on March 14.

Students served as delegates for Afghanistan, Estonia, the Russian Federation and Saudi Arabia. They were separated into committees such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP-A) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to discuss issues ranging from the environmental impacts of war to the ethics of genetic modification.

The MM-MUN conference culminated with a closing ceremony webinar where awards were presented to delegates based on their individual performances. Georgia Goldberg ’23 and Grace Hudson ’23 received commendation awards for their performances in the UNESCO committee. In addition, Greg Damelin ’22 and Cecilia Mesa’22, the school’s top two performers, received outstanding delegate awards for their respective performances in the UNHCR and UNEP-A committees.

Mesa said it was exciting to receive an award at the conference because it signaled that her hard work paid off.

“It felt great to get an award at Marymount MUN,” Mesa said. “It was a fun time overall, and it’s nice to have your hard work recognized. This wasn’t my first time winning Outstanding at a conference, but it was my first time winning it on my own without a partner delegate […] It’s always a good feeling to know you’re getting it right.”

Damelin said he enjoyed the conference and learned from his fellow members of the UNHCR committee.

“Model UN always provides for such a fun and inspiring experience,” Damelin said. “For this particular committee, I was representing the Russian Federation. To prepare for the committee, I had to conduct research on Russia’s refugee policies and past action taken by the UNHCR. It’s always fascinating to educate yourself regarding international policy, especially when you care deeply about the topic at hand.”

Although he has never attended an in-person conference, Damelin said that participating in the virtual event was engaging.

“Having started MUN not too long ago, I haven’t experienced the setting of an in-person committee,” Damelin said. “With that being said, virtual committees allow for incredibly interactive experiences, all of which I have loved participating in.”