MUN is Fun: A Model UN Reflection
Ever since freshman year, I have been part of the Model UN club here at CBA. Coming into CBA, I never thought I would have joined Model UN, but I will always be happy that I did. This club is one of the most underrated in the school, and the trips and meetings have been amazing.
My Model UN journey began back in 2020, when my older brother (who was never in Model UN) told me to check it out. He said his friends loved it but he never had the chance to join. I was skeptical at first, but I went to the first meeting of that year.
Dr. John Gustavsen (AKA Doc Gus), had a cafeteria filled with people for the first meeting, and I was actually running a few minutes late when I walked in. He was already addressing the crowd when I walked in and he paused to ask who I was.
I told him my name and told him about my brother, since he knew him as a student. I sat down alone at the meeting and looked around. I only saw one person that I knew was a freshman too, and that was the current club president, Jack Jaenicke ‘24.
Doc started the meeting, talking about all the events and welcoming us new people to the club. I don’t remember much from the first meeting, but the one thing I do remember is a sentence that always stuck with me which Doc Gus said:
“Friends are made through Model UN.”
Some of my closest friends to this day were made through Model UN. It’s safe to say that Doc was not lying. However, I was still skeptical about the club and whether I wanted to do it or not.
That year was also when I met the man who kept me in Model UN and who wrote a very similar article to this only a few years ago. Andrew Nardiello ‘22 always was talking about Model UN. He became the club president for a reason in his senior year, and he led the club (alongside Doc Gus of course) to success at both competitive conferences and in running the MiddleMun conference.
Nardiello would be the one to convince me to go on my first BOSMUN trip sophomore year, and he helped me tremendously with the work that needed to be done for both MiddleMUN and BOSMUN.
I could very well recap the greatness that came out of the three MiddeMuns I worked during my time at CBA, but I am going to focus on the most impactful moments that came in my Model UN journey: the Boston trips.
Nothing will ever recapture the magic of the first trip. Nardiello had me convinced, and I came on the trip ready for a new experience but knowing nobody besides him and Doc Gus. By the end of the trip, I had become friendly with all of the guys who came on the trip, and stayed friends with them for years to come.
The first trip was to the BOSMUN conference specifically, and what a trip it was. I fell in love with Model UN on the trip, and loved every second of my experience. We went to a Celtics game, a crazy escape room, Fenway Park, the Aquarium and so much more.
The conference itself was amazing in its own right, with fun committees and fun events for all the high schoolers involved. I met many people from all over the country at the first conference and even made a few new friends. One of my new friends came from Massachusetts, and I stayed friends with her for years after (remember her for later in this article).
On the bus ride home it was quiet. I looked around and saw some of the seniors seemed a little sad and emotional. I did not understand why at that moment they were upset, but it all made sense a few years later.
The next year we went back to Boston for the EagleMUNC conference. As a junior I was eager to take on more Model UN challenges and I certainly had my share of them. The trip featured all of the fun from the first one, with the added bonus of me knowing more people. More fun was had and I enjoyed another great Model UN trip.
It was this year’s trip though, that became one of my favorite extracurricular experiences in my school career. CBA made its glorious return to BOSMUN (this time with a bunch of my friends with me in the senior class).
The trip began as the first two did: a bunch of fun Boston activities before the conference started. I enjoyed them, but by far the best part of the trip was the conference itself.
Firstly, I was with many of my friends on this one, and they made it all the more funny and enjoyable. Also, the staffers of this year’s BOSMUN created a great conference where much fun was had.
One point that stood out the most to me above everything else was something very unexpected. I had heard my friend from two years ago might have been going to this conference, but I was unsure. We had not talked in a long time, and had not seen each other since the conference two years ago. Even if she was going, I thought we would not even talk.
Friends are made in Model UN. We found each other on the first day of the conference, and spent the following days catching up on life in the past two years. It was in those two days that I truly remember Doc Gus’ words. Friends really do come in Model UN.
As my final Model UN conference came to a close, I looked around the hotel lobby one last time as a delegate. I looked and saw flashbacks from my previous trips. I saw Nardiello and all of those seniors from that year being nice and asking me if I wanted to hang out with them. I saw the spot where Doc Gus gave us countless inspirational speeches before the conference started. I even flashbacked to when I met my friend I reunited with this year, when I passed the room we first met in.
I walked out of the hotel and onto the bus. It was then, I understood those emotions the seniors my sophomore year were feeling. It was an emotional moment to say the least.
Senior year has been filled with goodbyes, and this one was harder than I ever could have imagined. All of the great memories, all of the great people I met, and the great experiences. Model UN is truly a wonderful club at CBA.
I never can thank Doc Gus enough for everything he has done for all of us. This club has been amazing for years I’ve been involved, and it will only continue to be as the years go on.
So I say goodbye to one of my favorite clubs at CBA.
MUN is truly fun.
The best friends are made through Model UN.
