If you’re interested in the global world outside of the “Williston Bubble,” Model UN is the perfect club.

Model UN promotes cooperation and international diplomacy and hopes to peacefully resolve all conflicts between countries, according to Liam Coughlin ’21, one of the club’s leaders.

In Model UN, each student is assigned a country and they argue the topic based on their country’s legislation. They compete at different conferences throughout the year.

Nathan Shatz ’21 got interested in Model UN through Mr. Syfu’s 8th grade Civics class.

“Through model UN, however, I gained an interest and fascination for what was happening outside the world I interacted with every day,” Nathan said. “[In preparation for MUN] I have come to learn about horrible topics of international crisis that I would have never encountered.”

“Model UN has, and still helps me become a more confident speaker and leader, and prepares me for independent work in the future,” Nathan added.

Nathan joined as a freshman and has gone to every conference since.

Junior Liam Coughlin also gives Syfu credit for sparking his interest.

“Because of Model UN, I’ve concluded that my dream career will either be in international relations or the law,” Liam said. Similar to Nathan, Liam joined freshman year.

“What I love most about my role in Model UN here at Williston is that I am a part of something larger than my personal Model UN experiences and background,” added Liam.

The Model UN group just attended an annual conference at Philips Exeter, where the group met with about 30 other public and private school in the New England area.

At the conference, Anfisa Boganenko ’21 won a verbal commendation; Adam Shatz ’23 won an Honorable Delegate award; Nathan Shatz ’21 won an Outstanding Delegate award; Liam Coughlin ’21 won a Best Delegate award.

Later this year, Liam and Nathan hope to create and host a new conference on campus, WillyMUNC.