Model Students

As the 2014-15 school year comes to a close, the Model United Nations club is hard at work. The team is composed of dedicated students with interests in a wide variety of world issues.

“It’s a form of debate, except you’re not necessarily trying to prove everyone else wrong,” secretary general junior Kayla Savage said. “It’s a lot about public speaking and working together in a public forum to solve an international issue. We talk about the crisis in Ukraine, women’s rights in Africa … basically anything that affects a large amount of people globally.”

The club has started to branch out and travel to other states in hopes of doing well in competitions.

“This year we went to Duke University, which was our first out-of-state competition,” Kayla said. “We did really well. We plan on possibly going to an international competition next year.”

The doors of the Model U.N. club are always open to new members, regardless of experience. For example, sophomore Ben Roberts won the best delegate award at his first conference. The club meets every Monday in the Chap Room and it is not too late to join.

“[When I first joined], Model U.N. was a predominantly male, kind of nerdy club,” Kayla said. “But I could just tell that [the officers] were invested in this thing and they just seemed so passionate about it. I wanted to give it a try, so I kept going to meetings, and I ended up loving it. I actually pay attention to [current events] now. Especially at Westlake, so many kids have no idea about the international issues that are happening right now as they are sitting in their homes and worrying about their grades. The reality is we’re in a world of a lot of problems. Model U.N.makes me feel like I can make a difference.”