For the second consecutive year, the All-American Model United Nations team competed at Georgetown University’s North American Invitational Model United Nations (NAIMUN) conference, and for the second consecutive year, the team earned the titled of Best Small Delegation.

For many schools across the United States, NAIMUN represents the national championship conference. Last year, over 30 of the best 100 high school teams came to compete. In 2017, while several top ranked programs such as Horace Mann, the Dalton School, Mira Costa, University of Chicago Lab School, JP Stevens, and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology were not in attendance, the competition was just as fierce.

Just as last year, the margin of difference between delegation awards, large and small, was razor thin. McLean High School (VA) squeaked past West Windsor Plainsboro High School South (NJ) to win Best Large Delegation. South walked away with Outstanding Large Delegation, narrowly edging past West Windsor Plainsboro High School North (NJ) and American Heritage Plantation (FL), in an incredibly tight competition.

In the Small Delegation bracket, the difference between Best Small and Outstanding Small came down to a single award. The All-American Model UN Team was awarded Best Small and Elmont Memorial (NY), with an incredibly strong performance in the General Assembly and Economic and Social committees, won Outstanding Small Delegation.

The All-American Team brought 10 students and won the following awards:

• Gaurang Goel (The Loomis Chaffee School)- Best Delegate, NSA
• Aditya Iyengar (Thomas Wootton High School)- Best Delegate, Mujibur Rahman’s Cabinet, 1972
• Robert Hobart III (The Bay School of San Francisco)- Best Delegate, Alliance of Small Island States
• Michael Dianetti (St. Vincent St. Mary)- Outstanding Delegate, World Trade Organization
• Christian Rodriguez (Bergen County Academies)- Honorable Delegate, Parliament of Catalonia
• Lily Liu (The Loomis Chaffee School) & Faiz Syed (George Walton Comprehensive High School)- Verbal Commendation, Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee

For the All-American Model UN Program, it continues a delegation award streak of 13 straight conferences spanning the globe.

How to Win Delegation Awards

Winning delegation awards is no easy task and takes commitment from an entire team. When conferences only recognize four delegations out of as many as 75 schools in the largest conferences, there is little room for error. Here are some common tips we give:

• Be competitive in every committee. Don’t concede not winning any awards in the large committees and don’t take small committee awards for granted.
• When every member counts, every verbal is worth gold. While everyone wants to walk away with a gavel, only about 35 delegates at a 3,000+ student conference will win one. That’s a 1.16% random chance, and is likely much lower when you account for skill levels and experience of your fellow delegates.
• Not everyone has to win an award, and you shouldn’t be (too) upset if you don’t place. Team awards are given to teams, not to individuals. Even if some students don’t win awards, they likely played a massively important role supporting and coaching other members of your team.
• Don’t play politics or strategy– that is, don’t overthink it. Bring students who genuinely love the activity, debate, and camaraderie. Putting too much pressure on your team to perform will likely result in disappointment.
• That being said, expect that everyone will give 100% effort. This means working before and after committee. This means not giving up after one or two poor committee sessions. This means not blaming the chair. Everyone should be trying their best for the duration of the conference.

Want to Take Your MUN Game to the Next Level?

If you’re ready to start winning awards, or if you want to change your verbals and honorable mentions into outstanding and best awards, consider applying to the All-American Diplomacy Academy in Boston this July. Or if you’re ready to compete with the All-American Model UN Teams, apply for our WEMUN Expo (Beijing) or HMUN India (Hyderabad) teams.

The All-American Model UN Programs are all about community, development, and support. We’re looking for students that actively want to improve their skills and knowledge. Apply today so we can start working together!