From Fri., Oct. 17 to Sat., Oct. 18, the Model United Nations (UN) Club won the Best Large Delegation award at the University of South Florida (USF) during the third annual Bullsmun Conference. Eleven students won individual awards and junior Jonathan Ivey won a free Model UN prep summer camp in a raffle.

Model UN is a club in which high school students simulate the real United Nations by representing different countries and debating global issues. The club helps students develop life skills like public speaking, debating and collaboration. Participants are called delegates and they must represent their respective country in conferences, meaning they must also do research about their country, committee and delegation.

“One real life skill Model UN taught me that I’ll probably use for the rest of my life is sucking up my fear of starting a conversation and just doing it anyway,” junior Kazu Hasegawa said. “I think this is going to be really useful for me particularly since I want to go into the law field.”

Model UN has different types of committees, including General Assembly, Crisis, Specialized and Ad-Hoc. Each committee offers its own set of challenges and its delegates’ ultimate goal is to pass a resolution paper.

General Assembly is the most similar to a real United Nations meeting and is usually the preferred choice for many first-time ‘MUNers.’

Crisis committees are fast-paced and stressful as new announcements come out during the session, forcing delegates to work under pressure.

Specialized committees have fewer delegates and unique rules; they combine components of specialized and General Assembly committees.

Ad-Hoc committees are designed for more experienced delegates and cover unconventional or creative topics, unlike the issues covered in other committees, such as climate change, human trafficking and women’s rights.

Model UN may sound intimidating at first, especially to those who do not like public speaking. However, the club offers a supportive environment that encourages members to branch out of their comfort zone and try new things.

“The sense of community within the club is very strong, we as a club believe that no matter how experienced you are with public speaking or politics, everyone deserves to be a part of the Model UN community and learn all the skills necessary to succeed,” senior president Ayaan Rajwany said. “Friendship and connections are some of the most important parts of this activity, so it’s one of the biggest factors attributed to our recent success.”

Many Florida colleges and high schools host Model UN conferences, like the University of Florida (UF), American Heritage High School, University of Miami and USF. Model UN at school is an actively growing club with this year’s sponsor, English teacher Chelsea Briggs, taking charge after former sponsor Sofia Capezza left.

“Before even reaching the competition our officer board ensured that every single delegate knew exactly what they were getting into and how to best succeed within their committee, preparing them for the days ahead of debating, giving speeches and working with other students to create resolutions,” junior and social media manager Noa Nierman said.

Multiple students won awards at this year’s Bullsmun Conference.

Juniors Ella Bernbaum and Isabella Lopez and seniors Nick Litenski and Praneeth Tallapaneni — the president and co-treasurer, respectively — received honorable mentions. Seniors Dhruv Mutha and Leo Dinh — the vice president and co-treasurer, respectively — and juniors Amna Khwaja and Hasegawa also received an honorable mention in the dual delegate committee.

Additionally, Nierman received recognition as an outstanding delegate, freshman Vlad Ostrovsky received a verbal commendation and Ivey was recognized for his position paper and won a free Model UN prep summer camp.

Shortly after the individual awards were announced, the Model UN team was recognized and awarded as the Best Large Delegation.

“Model UN actually meant a lot to me because I like to keep myself well informed with a lot of what’s happening in the world, and being in Model UN and representing a country allowed me to learn so much about the country that I was representing and what’s going on,” Ivey said.

Model UN meets one-two times a month. During meetings they have practice committee sessions to prepare for the three-four field trips they take throughout the year. Students have to try-out in a club meeting in order to attend conferences. The next committee the delegates will attend is “GatorMUN” at UF from Jan. 23-25, 2026.