Model United Nations; generally referred to MUN, is a program that high schools around the country take part in.

“It’s a mock representation of what the real United Nations does,” said Diego Bennett, the Director General of Conference Preparation for MUN.

The students in the MUN class are assigned a country, and they must convey the country’s views and stances on certain issues. Students must write a position paper which is representative of the viewpoints of the country they are depicting.

Several speeches must also be delivered during an MUN conference. After speeches have been presented, students must find other member states that share the same values and eventually draft a consensus to the issue at hand.

Many schools in southern California host MUN conferences. The most recent conference that San Juan Hills participated in was at Santa Margarita Catholic high school.  Each MUN student from SJHHS represented a different country.

There isn’t exactly a fierce rivalry between schools at the conferences however.

“It’s not necessarily a competition between the schools, it’s more individual, but there is a sense of comradery,” said Bennett.

Although there is no direct competition between schools, there are three different awards that an individual can receive at an MUN conference. An accommodation award is given to those who show themselves to be good delegates. The outstanding delegate award is a step above the accommodation award. The best delegate award is what every participant at an MUN conference strives for, and it is given to those who go above and beyond.

MUN is a culmination of writing, public speaking and political knowledge.