Sachem North Students Participate in Model UN Conference at Johns Hopkins

In February, an eight-member delegation of Sachem North Model United Nations club members traveled to Baltimore for the annual Johns Hopkins University Model United Nations Conference. 

The Sachem delegation, one of more than 75 present at the conference, was made up of seniors Mishaina Joseph, Brittany Wienclaw and Armando Villa-Ignacio, juniors Dylan Cowit, Kimberly Nentwich, and Garima Yadav, and sophomores Peter Amato and Ashley Brill, accompanied by club advisors Dr. Georgia Afxendiou and Kevin Miller. 

“One of the primary goals of the Model United Nations Club is to provide opportunities for students to expand their horizons, to see greater possibilities and to make bigger plans and set greater goals for themselves,” said Afxendiou. Attending the Johns Hopkins University Model United Nations Conference was just such an opportunity that allowed Sachem students not only to meet and compete with students from other states and other countries, but also to get exposed to an elite academic institution and perhaps see themselves attending the best universities our country has.”

The Hopkins Conference was the first out-of-state conference the Sachem North team has participated in and it competed against teams from across the country as far away as California and Texas, and from countries such as Guatemala and Ghana. 

More than 1,500 students attended the global conference. The students debated in the committees of the United Nations Economic and Social Council and the United Nations Human Rights Council. 

“I am continually impressed at the caliber of the students involved in this club around the country, and in fact, the world,” Miller said. “The fact that Sachem students perform at such high levels, in such academically challenging settings, truly speaks well of our school.  Our experience at the Johns Hopkins Conference further cemented my belief that our students are among the very best.”

In addition to their committee responsibilities, students attended a lecture by Michael Fairbanks, co-founder and director of the SEVEN Fund, a philanthropic foundation run by entrepreneurs aiming to increase enterprise solutions to fight global poverty.

He is also a consultant to the government of Rwanda in its development and reorganization efforts.  Additionally, the students toured the campus of Johns Hopkins University and participated in a question and answer session with an admissions officer.  Attending this conference was a unique learning experience, both in international diplomacy and world issues, as well as a life experience in the challenging academic environment offered by a truly elite university.

"JHUMUNC broadened my international and diplomatic perspective by showing me that there are hundreds of other young people who are enthusiastic about finding peaceful and comprehensive solutions to current world issues,” said Sachem North Junior Kimberly Nentwich. “It gave me hope that in the future we will be able to work together as an international body to address the manyserious, yet approachable, issues that plague the world today.”

Garima Yadav, a junior at Sachem North and the Under Secretary General for Conference Communications in the Model UN club, said the experience was life changing.

"On this short, four-day trip, I established a very close bond with seven people who were simply just acquaintances before, but now have become really close friends," she said. "The trip taught me about the professional details of the Model UN, but, more importantly, provided me with relationships that will last a lifetime." 

“Personally, I am extremely glad that the board gave us the opportunity to go to Johns Hopkins Model United Nation Conference because we learned new Model UN procedures,” said Sachem North Sophomore Peter Amato, “we became closer as a Model UN unit, and we were exposed to the college admissions process and college life. I couldn't have asked for a better trip or experience."