Apr. 17—NORTH ANDOVER — Imagine having to defend Russia.
Students in North Andover High School’s Model U.N. Club are not only accustomed to receiving such difficult, and even repugnant assignments, but they welcome the challenge.
“I’ve been Russia for the past two conferences, and it’s obviously very tough to try to portray—even on issues that aren’t Ukraine—to try to portray the Russian agenda in a non-offensive way,” said Nick Raposo, a senior and president of the club. “But it makes you a better global thinker, trying to have to understand where these foreign leaders are coming from, and where these foreign policy makers are coming from.”
Patricia Vo, a sophomore in her first year with the club, recently had to argue on behalf of the Congress of Cucuta, an early nineteenth century precursor to the Republic of Colombia in South America.
“I was supporting a fascist government, which is something I don’t support at all,” she said. “I really had to go all in on this. I don’t believe in this, but it’s something I have to do. We don’t support it, but it’s necessary to argue hard on it.”
Just like in the real United Nations, the ultimate goal of these student debates is for countries to reach common ground where they can solve problems, no matter how great their differences.
“What you’re being evaluated on is your ability to not only represent your nation, or your person, but to work in a diplomatic, collaborative setting,” Raposo said.
The local club’s members are so effective at representing their assigned positions, both in debate and through the written word, they won “Best Delegation” at a Model U.N. conference that was held last week at UMass Lowell.
It was one of two conferences that they go to in Lowell each year, while also participating in one overnight conference, which this year they attended at Boston College.
“Obviously, this is the first overnight trip we’ve done since 2019,” said Paul Myette, who has advised the club for 11 years.
He has been teaching English at North Andover High School for 16 years, and said he took over the club after another teacher retired, to make sure that it continued.
“It’s easily the most rewarding thing I do here,” he said.
There are 12 members of the club, eight of whom competed in Lowell, and they meet every Monday to prepare for upcoming conferences. While most of these address issues from current affairs, others focus on historic events like the French Revolution, and some conferences introduce fictional situations for participants to deal with.
Students research the issues that they will have to argue about in various committees at each conference, and decide which roles they will play in those committees.
“We’ll choose the positions we want, and then we’ll start researching on our own,” said Joshitha Gopalakrishnan, a sophomore. “Then every time we meet we’ll talk a bout it more and be like, some strategies are this, this, and this.”
Committees tackle economic, military or cultural issues, with the goal of reaching a consensus that can be expressed in a working paper.
“We come together, we work with different countries, we understand our own, personal national interest, and through that we understand global foreign policy,” said Daniel Katsev. “But we achieve the goals of that committee, whatever they may be. I remember in mine, we created a framework for Ukrainian refugees. Really big things, and delving into details.”
Although diplomatic procedures and manners of address are highly formalized, committees sometimes “go off the rails,” just like in the real world, said Thomas Sistek, a sophomore.
“One time I was in arctic council as Russia and we were supposed to be talking about global warming in the arctic, but it ended up that I moved nuclear submarines into the arctic, and we ended up having to talk about this cold war situation,” he said.
Scott Harwood, a senior and vice president of the club, said that the experience of participating in Model U.N. is invaluable.
“Even if you don’t necessarily understand international politics, past what you’ve researched, it does help you build that confidence to stand in a room with a lot of people in it and strongly address and explain what you’re looking to do, what you’re looking to accomplish,” he said.
Raposo said it takes self-control to maintain decorum while defending your country’s values, and the process of debate also teaches students to be good listeners.
“You hear these new ideas, you hear these very smart students from across the country present these ideas in a way you’ve never heard before, and it’s really an eye-opening experience, because it gives you so many new perspectives,” he said.
The club can be a hard sell to other students, who may not be aware of what is involved, Raposo said. But he thinks their award-winning performance last week provides a good example of what makes Model U.N. special.
“It just shows that a group of people can come together and learn, work, and embody these countries and these values, and through that collaboration you can achieve great things,” Raposo said. “I think that’s the idea we promote.”
