Immersed in the World of Politics: NJC at Haileybury Model United Nations

The chair of ECOSOC, would like to open this debate, on the topic of NJC’s trip to Haileybury MUN and London!

Over the course of a weekend, NJC students immersed themselves in the world of politics. This included an enriching Model UN conference, a guest speaker from the Swaziland High Commission and unfortunately dealing with the repercussions of French Air Traffic Control protests. As a chair, I was one of the 15 students organizing one of the UK’s largest Model UN conferences, and (not to brag) was voted the best chair by my committee. At first, I oversaw the debate of coordinating humanitarian assistance, with Beckett and Jackson, also known as the delegations of Montenegro and Malta, quietly influencing a bloc against Western involvement in developing nations. As well, in true political fashion, I dealt with crises ranging from missing delegates to heated debates, all while keeping ECOSOC in order. The overwhelming participation within the committee resulted in my promotion to chair of the general assembly. What this meant, for good and ill, is that I oversaw a debate of 500 chatty students crammed inside the gymnasium of Haileybury.

But maybe crammed is the wrong word, as the large-scale campus of Hogwarts, I mean Haileybury, gave the conference a magical feel. Beyond the conference, NJC students found themselves in a historical chapel on campus, and yet again befriended the Dutch on the final day of the conference, marking a successful Model UN experience both in and out of the debate.

To top it off, our day in London resulted in too many experiences to recount, from Alexia and Jackson’s trip to parliament square, to Beckett steering His Majesty’s Ship Belfast, or even me, unfortunately falling madly in love with the West End’s rendition of Hamilton. I was even fortunate enough to visit the campus of King’s College London too, somewhere I may well be spending the next 3 years of my life.

To conclude, the class of 2023’s final Model UN conference could not have gone better, as we all had passionate debates, made new friends, and experienced yet another beautiful country, a classic NJC experience.