On March 5th, 20 Yorkies and our three accompanying teachers, Mr. Abt, Ms. Sigloch, and Ms. Darrell Herbert boarded our plane to New York for the National High School Model United Nations Conference.
Our weekly after-school class comprised of 15 grade twelves, and five grade elevens spent four days debating and resolving world issues from the Eurozone crisis to emergency refugee housing. In pairs or in a few cases even alone, we each represented the country of Albania in various committees of the United Nations working towards resolutions that could fit all nations’ interests. In preparation, our class spent months conducting painstaking research on Albanian foreign and domestic policy to each craft a position paper: a short paper on a specific issue as it pertains to Albania.
Despite the long hours spent in committee sessions, we were still able to enjoy the city of New York. The hotel was located in Midtown Manhattan, a short walk from Central Park and the Fifth Avenue shopping street. A walking tour of the city on the first morning got us acquainted with some of the main attractions and most well known spots in New York including Rockefeller Center and John Lennon’s old apartment block. During our limited free time, we branched out and explored other parts of the city from the Upper East Side all the way down to SoHo. Everyone came together the last night in New York to watch the Broadway show Phantom of the Opera.
One of the main highlights of the trip had to be the last day of the conference, which took place at the actual United Nations building in New York. Thank you to all the chaperone teachers for organizing and accompanying us on this great trip!
Rebecca
Grade 12
