Last week, 19 students from Fort Hays State University attended the Midwest Model United Nations Conference in St. Louis, to help them develop their leadership skills and discuss worldwide issues.
While at the conference, the students from across the nation had two main goals.
“We went to St. Louis to participate in the Midwest Model United Nations Conference. There are different conferences throughout the nation, at various places. Fort Hays State only participates in the MMUN. We were both Cuba and the United Nations. Our goal there was to imitate the U.N. and work on consensus building,” said Arynne Smallback, Topeka KAMS Senior.
Smallback has participated in the Model United Nations at two different levels. As a younger member of the group, she was able to bring a different perspective to the table.
“In high school, I participated in the Model United Nations at that level, and then I came here. The collegiate level is much bigger, than the high school level, and with a slightly different setup,” Smallback said.
As the Head Delegate for Cuba, and a two-time attendee of the conference, Smallback understands appreciates the main idea for MMUN.
“The conference takes place over the course of four days. While there, the students participate in three to four hours of ‘caucusing,’ and formal session. They try to use the boundaries of each country and think about how they would react to certain situations,” Smallback said.
With many different schools and states participating in the event, issues being addressed had to be split up into different committees among the members attending. The general assembly of the students is split into four committees, as well as the Economic and Social Council, Commission on the Statistics of Women, and the World Food Program. Each committee has different topics that they work on.
“I was in the third committee that worked on public health and humanitarian aid. The first and second day, spend time writing resolutions, working together, and trying to get something passed on the floor,” Smallback said.
The next few days included different sessions, where the committees came together and tried to pass resolutions on the floor. The delegates tried to pass each resolution through the general assembly of students. Each committee usually only has one time to go through their resolutions.
Smallback believes each individual student has an impact on the outcome of the conference.
“The people were amazing this year. They made working in the stressful situation of trying to write resolutions much easier,” Smallback said.