By Ella Trodd
Staff Writer
When Costa Almuni, Taylor Lewis and Risha Rohera are not studying at the University of Pennsylvania they are traveling to India for Model United Nations Conferences.
Lewis, a graduate of the MCHS Class of 2013 is studying Political Science and Diplomatic History at UPenn. She now devotes her time to International Affairs Association (IAA) which is an umbrella organization on campus that does a lot and also hosts Model UN conferences.
Rohera, a graduate of the MCHS Class of 2015 spent her time at Costa in MUN and La Vista. She was Copy Editor her junior year and Managing Editor her senior year. She also competed with Mira Costa MUN for three years, traveling to places such as William & Mary and UC Berkeley.
“As a conference, we really operated on the mentality that we wanted the delegates should be collaborating in committee in order to succeed, because, in reality, that’s how the real world works.” said Rohera.
The trip took place before their Thanksgiving Break and about 15 people attended the conference in Delhi with the Penn International Affairs Association to India to staff the Ivy League Model United Nations Conference India (ILMUNC India).
“We also went on super fun bus rides to Jaipur and Agra to check out Amer Fort and the Taj Mahal.” Rohera said.
The trip lasted about 10 days and Rohera and Lewis were hosting the conference for high school students, and it was the ILMUNC’s fourth time hosting.
“We also had the chance to travel around India before the conference and went to Agra and Jaipur, in addition to Delhi. We saw the Taj Mahal and many other historical sites – overall it was an incredible trip and such a cool opportunity!” Lewis said.
However, it was not Lewis’ first time on this trip as she had also been as a sophomore when she chaired the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Committee for the students. This year, she returned on the trip as the Chief of Staff for the conference, responsible for organizing certain aspects of the conference and overseeing all of the Penn chairs.
“It was amazing to see the differences between Indian and American model UN delegates firsthand. Indian delegates really prioritized competition and yelling over each other during debate, so it was definitely difficult to get them to be more collaborative.” said Rohera.
Rohera is studying Finance and Business Analytics and is involved with the Penn International Affairs Association, and currently serves as the Secretary-General for Penn’s collegiate Model UN conference, the University of Pennsylvania Model United Nations Conference (UPMUNC). At the conference, Rohera ran a Model UN crisis committee called the South African Anti-Apartheid summit.
“It was definitely one of the more exciting experiences in my life, and I couldn’t be more thankful to be a part of the International Affairs Association here at Penn.” said Rohera.
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