Model United Nations (MUN) is a club at Cal-High that allows for participating students to role-play as UN delegates, this is meant to improve public speaking and inform students of international issues. In April of 2022, MUN went to its first conference since the pandemic began. The conference took place in Boston and the club was elated. As stated by Mr. Palmer (one of the advisors), it had been quite a while since the club’s last trip and it would be a first for many.

The last trip to Boston was around 2017 and for most of the MUN members, this was going to be the first in-person conference they’d been to. According to Mr. Palmer, the club had been to several virtual conferences, but they were not yet experienced with one quite like this. Palmer explained that “East Coast and West Coast Conferences are very different. East Coast has a lot of private schools. A lot of ‘power delegates’ that students would face against.” While students were being trained for the conference, Palmer explained that “the best way to get experience is by being there” and “getting their feet wet.” Outside of the conference, the group went on a lot of visits and had fun exploring Boston. For Mr. Palmer, that meant going to a local coffee shop: “My favorite thing to do in any place I visit is finding coffee shops, like mom-and-pop run ones.” He also enjoyed visiting the USS Constitution, as it was his first time seeing it. Despite these visits, Palmer’s favorite part of these trips is “when students are bonding together and making memories. Sometimes it’s about where they are, but other times it’s just about a shared experience that they had.”

MUN member Anthony Martinez was excited going into the conference and explained the eventful nature of the trip as there were several different visits. Martinez describes one of his favorite parts of the trip: “My personal favorite part, besides the conference, was when the group visited the campus of Harvard. There, a former MUN member gave us a tour, and we saw some impressive architecture, such as the entrance to one of the libraries, which was framed with massive columns.” Along with this campus tour, Martinez also mentions the visits made to Bunker Hill and the Boston Public Library, which he describes as a “simply breathtaking place.” Regarding the conference, Martinez was on the “Committee of Public Safety” based on the First French Republic and refers back to his amusement towards the chair’s use of a powdered wig. Overall, Martinez describes the MUN trip as an enjoyable experience.

Melanie Saavedra–another MUN member–found that many of her fond memories were traced back to her time with other club members. In her retelling of the most notable visits, Saavedra describes the Museum of Fine Arts. This was a memorable visit because she admired “looking at all the artwork with the other team members.” Similar to Palmer, Saavedra also calls back to her time at a restaurant: “Eating at Wahlburgers was also very fun, especially when we played telephone while waiting for our food!” Saavedra was also very excited about the conference as she explained that the team had spent much time preparing for it, putting any nerves at ease. During the conference, Saavedra represented Diego de Vallenilla, a Deputy Secretary of Gran Colombia; she also brought up the great experience that was being able to meet Boston locals and other MUN members at the conference. Saavedra ended by describing what a wonderful experience the trip was and thanked the MUN advisors for planning it all: “None of it could have been possible without such an amazing team, and it definitely could not have happened without Mr. Reagan and Mr. Palmer, who are both really awesome for giving us this opportunity!”