Bellevue College’s Model United Nations (MUN) program has once again proved its excellence.
This year’s Bellevue College delegation represented the Oriental Republic of Uruguay. Tim Jones, who has been the program’s advisor for nine years, traveled with students to New York City during Spring Break for a National Model United Nations (NMUN) conference. Students were able to spend time in a beautiful city, meet people from all over the world and use the knowledge they had been accumulating over the entirety of Winter Quarter.
Model United Nations programs can be found in high schools and colleges all over the globe. The programs and subsequent conferences teach students how to take on the role of a real United Nations diplomat. Students are tasked with becoming familiar with a country and the topics they are given. They then attend conferences and work with other students to come up with solutions to real world problems, acting as a representative of the country they were assigned.
BC students brought home two prestigious awards from New York: a position paper award, won by Thomas Adrian and Carolina Valdez, and an honorable mention delegation award. Jones mentioned that every year he has advised the program, Bellevue College has received at least one award.
He goes on to explain that, “students who participate in the MUN program get a chance to develop lots of skills that are transferable to many different situations and jobs, including research, writing, public speaking, problem solving, consensus building, conflict resolution and networking.” He further noted that students who attend the conference in New York have the outstanding opportunity to visit the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations and speak with real diplomats, “which gives BC students the unique opportunity to practice diplomacy in a truly international environment.”
Apart from traveling to New York, Bellevue College MUN students can also participate in conferences right here in Seattle as well as in countries abroad.
Sydney Sept, a Bellevue College student, has been a part of the program for two years. She has been to New York twice and went to an international conference in Ecuador last year. This year, she acted as one of the Head Delegates; helping students in the BC delegation with navigating the exciting New York conference experience.
When asked if she would recommend this program, she said, “Most definitely. It’s such a great learning experience. You get to meet new people and you get to network with people you would never possibly even fathom meeting.”
Many students in this year’s delegation expressed a similar sentiment. Bellevue College’s Model United Nations Program allow students to develop new skills, to travel, network and create incredible experiences. The opportunities this school-led program offers, especially for such a reasonable cost, is extraordinary.
If you’re interested in participating in BC’s Model United Nations program, Tim Jones explained that, “the program is a two or three quarter commitment. Ideally students would sign up for the two-credit POLS 121 in the fall, the three-credit POLS 122 in the winter, and the five-credit POLS 123 in the spring. That said, students who can’t take the fall course sometimes are allowed to begin the program in the winter.”
For any further questions or expression of interest regarding the program, Professor Tim Jones can be reached at: tim.jones@bellevuecollege.edu