Model UN team gains experience from first conference at Stanford November 25, 2023 — by Sanjoli Gupta and William Norwood Photo by Zack ZhangStudents during closing ceremonies after the three day conference. At the conference, new delegates and veterans engaged in meaningful debate surrounding topics such as xenophobia, torture and AI regulation. Sixteen Model UN delegates from the school attended their first conference of the year on Nov. 10-12 at the Stanford Model United Nations Conference (SMUNC). Although the team didn’t win any awards, participants said the skills and feedback taken away from the experience will aid them in future conferences. For this event, delegates were paired together to represent a country, assigned to them two weeks prior. The conference was many delegates’ first time writing position papers, or detailed write-ups about their countries and topics. Though there was a steep learning curve for many rookies, officers felt they came out having learned a lot about their topics and the whole Model UN process, Tadikonda said. “We had a lot of new delegates at Stanford this year so the fact that their first conference was a college one was an incredible leap,” vice president Anushka Tadikonda said. “But I saw that they not only enjoyed the conference but also I witnessed increased confidence in public speaking, improvement in resolution writing, and enhanced networking skills.” Delegate Akash Gupta was in the United Nations Human Settlement Programme representing Germany, and their topics revolved around the issues surrounding rights-based urbanization and building gender-equitable cities. “It was a lot of fun meeting new people, especially the delegates who flew out from Peru,” Gupta said. “There were delegates of many different experience levels, and it helped me learn how to be more comfortable even when I may be less experienced than others.” Tags: model united nations, Stanford 7 views this weekAbout the contributorsSanjoli GuptaSanjoli Gupta, Class of ‘24, is a News Editor of the 2023-24 Falcon staff. Previously, she was the School Scope Editor between 2022-23, Head Photographer between 2021-22 and Reporter and Layout Artist between 2020-21. She has attended the Stanford Daily Summer Journalism program as well as The School of The New York Times Inside the UN/Journalism/Law program where she interviewed a Holocaust survivor and learned about libel. She has won a Silver Key in Scholastic Art and Writing for her feature story on being both South Asian and Christian. Some topics she has previously covered include bioethics, intimidation, future professions and religion. Some things she enjoys outside journalism include reading, baking and photography.William NorwoodWilliam Norwood, Class of '25, is a School Scope Editor and was previously a Head Photography Manager of the Falcon. William has covered affirmative action, board meetings and district initiatives, and multiple opinion stories on controversial topics including staff editorial pieces. Outside of school, William rows at LGRC and is involved in other academic based clubs.