The clock is ticking. Two more minutes till the countries have to vote on the bill in question. Will they vote in his favor? Sophomore Mason Lilley has spent the last two months researching and thinking like a citizen in another country to learn about their political beliefs and views. 

Since 2013, Model UN hasn’t been a extracurricular activity that Bowie students can participate in. After nine years of dormancy, the club has made a return under world geography teacher Charles Stampley and debate teacher John Mast.  

“Model UN is a competition where students role- play countries and political figures, and they are graded on how well you represent the country or figure,” Stampley said. 

ModelUN is a collaborative activity that involves multiple participants who act as delegates, namely a representative of their assigned country. Throughout the conference delegates voice their opinions for various bills and are allowed to form alliances with others. Eventually their plans are brought to a vote, like the actual United Nations.

“I chose to participate because I thought it would be interesting,” senior Ethan Young said. “Additionally, this is Bowie’s first time ever doing Model UN after a while so I thought it would be a good addition to Bowie’s debate program.” 

In a report by BestDelagate, the article states that ModelUN fosters creativity and out-of-the-box thinking into students in a way that regular academics doesn’t. It also increases student’s communication skills as they’re able to engage with other delegates throughout the conference.

“Being in Model UN club has helped me in my world history class by expanding the way that I understand different topics and how countries react to different issues,” Lilley said. 

This club is often confused with other electives such as debate and mock trial, which are also Bowie organizations.  Although these activities are alike, they have different motives behind their conferences and competitions. 

“While both of the clubs  are very similar in style with each other, Model UN focuses on international relations and representing an entire country while the other does no,” Stampley said.

With the excitement to bring back this club to Bowie, Stampley reemphasizes the target audience for the club and encourages all students to join. 

“Anyone interested in international relations should join,” Stampley said. “It’s not a big time commitment and we participate in competitions frequently. Also, colleges love to see this club on college applications.”