Recently ACP’s Model UN attended the most prestigious Model UN conference in Arizona, the MCC Sonoran Model UN conference, at Mesa Community College. The conference represents what a global power thinks about a topic, defending its stance and collaborating with other countries to create solutions. It is an enormous asset in becoming a powerful presence in the local, national, and global community. Model UN is also a recreation of the real United Nations where students represent different countries and discuss real-world issues from the point of view of that nation.

Among those students are Jeel Changela, Adhyaksha Chandrasekaran, and Sowjanya Ravi. While Adhyaksha and Sowjanya were both assigned to Malaysia, Jeel was the delegate of the Kingdom of Morocco. In her third committee, all 48 delegates worked together to preserve and maintain privacy in the digital age by maintaining human rights while protecting a stance on coercive measures. Jeel explained, “It was an amazing first memory of Model UN, and I would love to experience it again. Thanks to my fellow members of Model UN, I gained the entirety of my knowledge of Model UN.”

I  had the opportunity to interview Sowjanya, and she believes the hard work and dedication our ACP team puts in to come to these conferences and compete on our behalf represents how committed our students are. The World Health Assembly, her committee, was dedicated to health and wellbeing. Model UN has given Sowjanya a sense of diplomacy and the ability to tactfully talk to people by coming up with solutions and engaging in teamwork. I asked Sowjanya how Model UN impacted her life, and she responded, “I always have a good experience getting to know new people and building meaningful connections.”

Moving on to Adhyaksha, she represented the Commission on the Status of Women, in which she gained insight into how governments operate and brought many different perspectives to light. Simply due to sheer numbers, Adhyaksha describes the team as dedicated. They have over 100 members going strong. But, if inspired by Adhyaksha, Jeel, and Sowjanya, they have some advice, ”There is no need to be afraid of speaking up, as you have to be confident in your stance and engage in good discussions. But always remember to enjoy it and make as many personal connections as possible with others.”

These Model UN members are just some of our school’s talented and hard-working students. With ACP being the second largest school at the conference and its accomplishments, the ACP family could not be more proud. We can continue to look up to them in our daily lives. They remind us to strive for the impossible and be extraordinary. Go Knights!