At such a young age, there are many students at ACP High School that are interested in international politics. Peeking into Mr. May’s classroom during advisory, we see that many of those students participate in ACP’s very own Model United Nations (Model UN, for short) created by Sophia Berg last school year. Not too long ago, the team took their novices to the Westwood tournament, their first tournament of the year, to prepare them for what is to come this season. At the conference, the team took second place (keep in mind that this is the team’s second tournament!), and today, we’ll be investigating the team’s success through the president herself.

Sophia has done Model UN for the past four years of high school and led the club when she was at Perry High School, in which their team took 2nd place at the State tournament. Other than Model UN, Sophia also captains Speech and Debate for Congressional Debate, Impromptu Speech, and Extemporaneous Speech. She is also the President of the ACP Band and Section leader, competes regularly in piano competitions, tutors students in various academic subjects, and leads her Girl Scout Troop.

After running the Perry Chapter, Sophia grew to love Model UN and had to share the experience with ACP as well. “The team is absolutely amazing, and every single member is dedicated to the organization. I’m so grateful for all of them,” Sophia comments. The team will be attending the Mesa Community College (MCC) Conference in February 2023 and is currently spending time training for it this quarter. “Everyone is really excited to attend this competition,” Sophia explains, adding that it is “the biggest one in the state of Arizona!”

As a senior, Sophia feels that leading Model UN for her final year has made her feel grateful for all the wonderful people in the club “who I know will continue to run it as we move forward, and after all of the seniors this year graduate.”

To conclude this article, let’s finally introduce the talented students that received awards at the conference:

General Assembly Best Delegate Runner-Up: Ila Hatwal

General Assembly Best Policy Statement Runner-Up: Michael Stevenson

Third Committee Best Policy Statement Runner-Up: Jiyu Wang

Third Committee Best Delegate Honorable Mention: Shreemayi Mangu

Chair for the Third Committee: Sophia Berg

UNICEF Best Delegate Runner-Up: Sarah Evans

UNICEF Best Delegate Honorable Mention: Seth Kooser

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Best Policy Statement: Shaela Rothwell

Committee on the Status of Women Best Policy Statement Runner-Up: Siyaa Poddar

A huge round of applause and congratulations to all of these students! Good luck with the upcoming MCC conference and remember to strive for the impossible and be extraordinary!