Running the All-American Programs is not easy. Booking flights, renting hotel rooms, and constantly recruiting students for teams is not why I started a Model UN training company.  Training and coaching, my real drivers, account for less than half of my time. At times, not interacting with students leads me to seriously question why I’ve made the decision to continue with All-American Model UN.

Then, all at once, I’m reminded.

There’s no doubt that from the last second week of January to the last week of February, the heart of the high school Model UN season takes place, with the following conferences all being hosted in that time: MUNUM (University of Michigan), YMUN (Yale), HMUN (Harvard), ILMUNC (Penn), GatorMUN (University of Florida), MUNUC (UChicago), BosMUN (Boston University), DUMUNC (Duke), JHUMUNC (Johns Hopkins), and FSHMUN.

While these conferences take place, I sit on my hands, waiting to hear from All-American alumni and current students. Not being able to coach them during conferences is stressful. I wait until Sunday to hear how they did.

And the past few Sundays have filled me with pride, respect, and motivation.

Yale Model UN Results

All of our students at YMUN won awards:

• Vyoma (Lexington HS)- Honorable Mention
• Eliza (Loomis Chaffee)- Outstanding Delegate
• Caitlin (Bergen County Academies)- Outstanding Delegate
• Gaurang (Loomis Chaffee)- Best Delegate
• Christian (Bergen County Academies)- UNSC Honor Committee Selection (no awards given)

Abi (All-American 2015, Heschel School) and Program Director Frank Pobutkiewicz

Harvard Model UN Results

• Abi (The Heschel School)- Outstanding Delegate
• Nikhil (Upper Canada College)- Best Delegate
• Upper Canada College also won Best Large Delegation

Upper Canada College- HMUN Best Large Delegation

Ivy League Model UN Results

• Spencer (TJHSST)- Outstanding Delegate
• Andrew (TJHSST)- Best Delegate
• Will (TJHSST)- Best Delegate
• TJ High School for Science and Technology also won Outstanding Large Delegation

Spencer (foreground, All-American 2016) and Will (background, All-American 2016) posing with their awards

Am I bragging? Absolutely.

When I get messages on my phone or on Facebook with award results, I beam. All at once, I’m reminded of why I continue with the All-American Model UN Programs.

Do I take credit for these results? Absolutely not.

I tell my students all the time that they are the ones in committee, giving speeches, whipping votes, and writing resolutions and directives. They’re the ones winning awards. They’re the ones who put in the work.

But, at the back of my mind, I secretly hope that maybe one tip or strategy I provided along the way helped them out. Maybe one piece of feedback tipped the scale in their favor. Maybe that last minute Skype call before the conference gave some extra piece of knowledge.

As the question of awards at Model UN conferences continues to split the community at large, I find myself happy that the All-American community uses awards to reinforce ours. Thank you all for reminding me of why– your cheers, your smiles, your hugs, your (sometimes questionable) singing, when your name and your school is called aloud.

Congratulations to you all.

Announcement on High School Rankings Coming Soon!

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