MUN succeeds at SOCOMUN, competes at Edison

By Bari Cohn and Sydney Severo

Staff Writer

Mira Costa High School’s Model United Nations program debated in the novice conference SOCOMUN at Santa Margarita High School on Sept 26 and Cerritos at Cerritos High School on Oct 10, and the group will debate in multiple upcoming conferences this year.

The conference gave freshmen the opportunity to experience their first Model UN debate, and it gave sophomores the opportunity to practice their skills in order to prepare for more advanced upcoming conferences.

“I felt I did really well at SOCOMUN, because our class was already prepared,” Freshman Yusuf Abdul-Cadet said. “We had already spent a lot of time practicing for debate prior to the conference, which I definitely think gave us an advantage because a lot of the other schools weren’t as prepared as ours.”

In preparation for upcoming debates this month, as well as larger and more advanced debates in the future, this conference gives students the opportunity to practice their debating skills in a less stressful and tense manner.

“I was pretty proud of the work that I did at SOCOMUN,” sophomore Samantha Walley said. “However, there were a few things I can approve upon and this debate gave me a good opportunity to see what those things are.”

At the debate at Cerritos High School on Oct. 10, MUN students were able to put their skills to the test during their first novice conference of the year. Freshman, sophomores, and four seniors  attended, with the Costa delegation being lead by Mr. Timberlake. According to sophomore Sami Jordan, over 80% of Costa students received an award of excellence.

“Most of the delegates that went to the conference got an award,” Jordan said. “Personally, I took away more confidence in my speaking and realized that when I know the subject I am talking about there is no need for me to be stressed.”

The next upcoming debate, the Edison High School Conference, on Oct. 17-18 is the first advanced fall conference. Only advanced Model UN students will be in attendance, and this is a non-invite debate.  

“I would say that Edison advanced is one of the more difficult conferences,” sophomore Keeley Parker said, “I usually spend the whole sunday before the conference researching my topics, and that’s what I’m doing for Edison. Overall it’s all about knowing your topic. If you’re informed and you know the facts, and confident with your speaking, it’s hard to do bad, especially if you’re the person who knows the most about the topic.”