Byline - Brooke Lai

From February 29 to March 2, the YISS Model United Nations (MUN) team traveled to Jeju Island to compete in the 10th Global Education City MUN Conference (GECMUN), listed as one of the Top 20 MUN conferences for high school students worldwide. With over 300 delegates from all around the world, ranging from South Korea to Malaysia, our 11 active delegates managed to take home nine awards, as well as the award for Outstanding Delegation (second place).

After bonding as a a team through bowling on Thursday, over the next two days, the team debated hard at the conference over a wide range of topics. Our persevering delegates saved a town from two eruptions at Mount Baekdu in 2025, became president in lieu of an assassinated Barack Obama during the aftermath of the 2008 Financial Crisis, and desperately tried to stop Canada from declaring nuclear war on Japan following 1941’s Pearl Harbor–just to name a few. In addition, we had three students, Catherine K. (11), Claire L. (11), and Audrey Y. (12), chairing the United Nations Economic and Social Council, and student Rachel K. (12) serving as Under Secretary General of the entire conference.

As an opportunity for creativity, leadership, collaboration, and public speaking, this year’s final conference was definitely a show of YISS excellence. We’ll come back even stronger next year!

Mr. Pash and Ms. Dooley would like to commend the whole team on a job well done and congratulate the following students on their individual awards:

Best Delegate: Seunghun L. (9), Claire Soyoon L. (10), Spencer P. (11)

Outstanding Delegate: Brooke L. (10)

Verbal Commendation: Lukas M. (9), Saeyoon S. (9), Tommy K. (10), Katie C. (10), David C. (12)

What a wonderful way for the MUN team to conclude its 2023-2024 season!