By David Copeland
Staff Writer
Mira Costa’s Model United Nations team sent a total of 39 delegates to the University of California San Diego conference titled TritonMUN. The debate began on April 30 and concluded on May 1.
The team, composed of only freshman and sophomores, competed against delegates from a dozen other schools. Two pairs achieved the highest award of recognition, a gavel, while two others won ‘Outstanding’ awards and five others won ‘Commendation’ awards.
“The challenge is that we only take first semester freshman and sophomores. I tried to pair sophomores and freshman together so that the older, more experienced people can teach the newer freshmen. Having a smaller debate keeps students busy so they need to speak up a lot,” Knutson said.
All of the other competing schools treated TritonMUN as a normal conference; however, Mira Costa only sent freshman and sophomores to teach the younger Model UN delegates the ropes and to acquaint them with the typically competitive environment.
“It’s a training thing for us. Other schools send everybody, but we only sent our younger students,” Knutson said. “They need to learn how to take care of themselves; there is no teacher like experience.”
Costa’s strong freshman and sophomore performance projects a bright future for the coming years of MUN.
“I was pleased with their performance. It is a training debate and it is preparation for the future. It is the last opportunity for me to judge the younger students. The performance of this debate is a window for next year’s Model UN team,” Knutson said.
Leave a Reply