Model United Nations
While most Shawnigan students returned home for a break this past weekend, the Model United Nations club was hard at work (as ever!) attending the Vancouver Model United Nations. We arrived at the Marriott Pinnacle in downtown Vancouver, awed by the sight of buildings taller than two stories, streets full of cars, and people we had never seen before—alien sights to a Shawnigan student—but there was no time for sightseeing.
Immediately after arriving, we were all hard at work in our committee sessions, discussing world issues with students from a dozen different schools. There were big committees: the World Health Organization, DISEC, specialized committees like NATO and a historical simulation of the Korean War and, finally, the Security Council, the smallest, and arguably most intense committee.
Several hard days of diplomacy followed, with negotiations reaching fever pitch during Friday night’s “midnight crisis” simulation—a committee session from one until three in the morning! More remarkably, most of the Shawnigan delegation was able to drag themselves out of bed to the session, although a few slept through all the excitement.
On Sunday, we attended the closing ceremonies, and many Shawnigan students walked away with awards—best delegate, distinguished delegate, and honorary mention among them. Everyone left the conference with a sense of accomplishment and a sense of wanting to sleep for a week to recover. It’s all worth it, though, and as the VMUN motto goes: “diplomacy is not a spectator sport!”
– Lisa Jane D.