Saint Francis Model UN

Decorum, delegates! Silence falls over a crowded school classroom where forty or so students, dressed to the nines, all sit a little straighter in response to the familiar phrase typically accompanied by a bang of the gavel and an occasional huff from a frustrated committee chair. Over the course of a day or two—depending on the conference—these delegates will debate and eventually present their solutions to a global or localized issue as part of Model United Nations (MUN). 

What is MUN and how does it even work? MUN is an opportunity for students to experience communal debate, practice their public speaking skills, enhance their research abilities, and gain a better understanding of the world around them. The broader goal of these events is to model the environment of the real United Nations (UN). To achieve this, students are assigned countries, committees, and topics that resemble the actual issues addressed by UN country representatives. 

If you’ve ever watched Netflix’s Never Have I Ever series, you might have been intimidated by MUN due to the intense MUN face off between Devi and her academic rival Ben. However, in reality, it’s much less intimidating than this dramatization makes it seem. In fact, our very own Saint Francis MUN team does a phenomenal job at preparing new delegates for their very first conference. Led by training directors and head delegates Brady Kawahara (’26) and Katherine Winton (’25), along with co-moderators Mr. Herhold and Ms. Zhang, the club hosts frequent meetings to help quickly accustom new members to the world of MUN in preparation for their first conference. 

This year, our school attended two conferences—Santa Clara Valley Model United Nations (SCVMUN) in January and Las Lomas Model United Nations (LLMUN) in late February. Plans to attend a third, Bay Area MUN this past weekend, were unfortunately postponed at the last minute due to a venue issue from the host school. Despite the setback, the team has still had a strong year with hopes to attend even more conferences in the future. At SCVMUN, 25 Saint Francis students attended the conference, a new peak for the program, with many receiving conference accolades for their performance at the event. At LLMUN, Saint Francis was extremely successful with a Verbal Commendation, two Honorable Mentions, two Outstanding Delegates, and one Best Delegate, awarded to individual students. As a whole, Saint Francis received the Outstanding Large Delegation award.

Awards or not, simply participating in the MUN program is an amazing experience. I joined the club my freshman year with zero experience and a fear of public speaking. Now, with the support of club leadership and encouragement from other club members, I’ve attended three conferences. I still feel nervous every time I stand up to speak, but I still do, and that’s a win all on its own (at my first conference I only spoke one time, yikes!).

Seeing such measurable improvement at each conference and after each meeting encourages me to continue to explore this newfound passion. The people I’ve met through the program and the scary yet rewarding memories I have with them—an hour-long 7 A.M. van trip, a rushed In-N-Out stop in full business attire, or even late night Facetime calls scrambling to pull together evidence for a conference the next day—have all been worthwhile.

I would encourage anyone and everyone at our school to give the program a try. I promise you won’t regret it!