After eight hours of declaring, debating, discussing and deciding within Model UN committee sessions, students traveled by train to the heart of Boston for a night of burgers and fun. Chaperoned by club sponsor Wendell Zartman and history teacher Amy Malin and led by seniors Sukul Mittal and Henry Philpott, the 15 students traveled to Cambridge to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Model United Nations Conference from Feb. 9-11.

A simulation of the United Nations, Model UN engages students in thorough discussions about global issues through various committees such as the World Health Organization and the Human Rights Council. The students, who each represented a different country, discussed two predetermined topics pertaining to their committee and worked to create a resolution to alleviate the issue.

The conference was a different experience from the Houston Area Model UN in that students came from all over the world to compete. Moreover, in an effort to foster individual contribution and distinction, the conference featured much smaller committee sizes of about 20 students, as opposed to HAMUN’s maximum of about 80.

For sophomore Athena Adrogué, who received the ‘Best Delegate’ award, one of the best parts of the conference was working together with other industrious and devoted people.

“I would absolutely do this again,”Adrogué said. “There were people who knew what the goal was and how to get there, so that was quite refreshing and nice.”

For sophomore Matthew Yekell, who also won the ‘Outstanding Delegate’ Award, the best part of the conference was forming new “bonds that are going to last a lifetime” with both his Model UN team members and with people he met at the conference.

Another highlight of the trip for the Model UN crew was exploring Boston and trying different foods. Restaurants such as Legal Seafoods and Mr. Bartley’s were at the top of everyone’s lists.

“On the main street there was Bodega, a small supermarket that led into a shoe store,” Adrogué said. “These little charms were fun to discover.”

Zartman hopes to continue the annual tradition of Model UN students going to the out-of-state conference.

“I enjoy watching the kids participating in these kinds of events,” Zartman said. “Model UN is mind-expansive and helpful in so many more ways than just learning how to talk to one another.”