By Olivia Cesarini

This past November, Bellarmine helped host Pacific Model United Nations (PACMUN), an inaugural conference held at the Bellevue Hilton. This event is a chance for Washington student delegates to research and debate world issues. PACMUN provided leadership opportunities and insightful conversations on a range of topics for students from 23 Washington schools. Pacific Model United Nations is a student-run conference, and almost half of the students who helped staff committees to organize the event were from Bellarmine.
According to Secretary-General Vivek Ramachandran, PACMUN was an amazing success for its first year in effect. “We exceeded capacity in our first year,” said Ramachandran, “attracting over 350 delegates and making PACMUN the largest conference in Washington.”
The Pacific Model United Nations conference only lasted one weekend, but the hard work put into the organization helped the event run smoothly, and, coupled with the impressive and thorough research done by the team on their issues, excited their fellow delegates. “We proved that high school students could pull off something huge! PACMUN inspired a lot of students to take up bigger leadership roles in their own Model United Nations clubs and the community as a whole,” said Ramachandran.
Fellow MUN member Elizabeth Gleyzer was also pleased with how PACMUN turned out. “I take so much pride in affiliating myself with this conference, as it was six others and I that rose it out of the ground and brought it to life. It was so surreal seeing that this is what I had helped make happen,” said Gleyzer.
“What I like about Model UN is that I get to debate the worlds most current, pressing issues, with other equally intelligent, determined, logic-minded individuals who actually CARE,” said Gleyzer, “By putting this conference on, we are fostering motivation and drive in other young people passionate about global change.”
Washington students were motivated by the fact that our state was not home to a high-school run conference, and upon learning this were determined to establish one. Students put on every part of the PACMUN event, from negotiating the contract with the hotel to choosing topics for debate. “It was a monstrous task,” said Gleyzer, “but everything becomes worth it when you realize there are future diplomats in that room. I now realize almost anything is possible, especially when a team of seven high school students put on an astonishingly successful conference.”
After a successful PACMUN experience, Bellarmine’s Model United Nations team now had another event to look forward to. Vancouver Model United Nations (VMUN) is another student-run conference but this time in Vancouver, BC. According to Gleyzer, attending VMUN last year is what inspired Bellarmine’s MUN club to develop PACMUN. “We started the first high-school run conference in the state, and it was an immense success. We are now the largest conference in all of Washington, after our inaugural year. We also wanted to make our conference high-school run to show that no person is too small to make a difference.”
Vancouver Model United Nations is a three-day conference, which, much like PACMUN, offers students a chance to learn about and discuss important and essential issues in the world.
Gleyzer attended VMUN last year and won the gavel, or the Best Delegate Award. “VMUN is different from other events because it is international, and we travel on a train to get there. It is more expensive but we meet many people from Washington and Canada that do MUN. Its turnout it usually over 1000 people so it is a humongous conference. And on top of that, it’s completely high-school run,” said Gleyzer
“Student run conferences like VMUN are great because we get a chance to connect with our committee chairs in a way that we can’t in university run conferences,” said Ramachandran, “The overall atmosphere is still academic but we can have a lot more fun. The entire experience last year was immersive, and I expect it to be just as amazing this year.”
Gleyzer believes that joining Model United Nations was a life changing decision for her. “Joining MUN is the best decision I made in my entire career in high school. I’ve developed so much as an individual and learned so much,” said Gleyzer, “We are making a difference, and it’s not a small one either! This is how great things start and how great global movements are facilitated.”
Bellarmine’s Model United Nations club has really taken off, evident through their successful execution of PACMUN and upcoming VMUN conferences. “Our club itself is run like organized chaos,” said Ramachandran, “We organize ourselves, and we don’t have any official leadership. The actual conferences really make you think on a global scale. It is surprising about how passionate people can get about issues and details that are rarely discussed in American politics but are extremely important to the rest of the world.”
“Joining MUN is the best decision I made in my entire career in high school. I’ve developed so much as an individual and learned so much,” agreed Gleyzer, “We are making a difference, and it’s not a small one either. This is how great things start and how great global movements are facilitated.”
For more information, see Model UN students or social studies teacher Ken Brown.