Harvard Model United Nations students are excited to interact with hundreds of international kids on their trip to Boston. That’s right, HMUN is back with in person meetings. This year should be fully normal, according to coach Keith Johnson.

Right now the team is starting work on preparation, researching, and doing concrete legal policy writing. The team will be ready to address up to 400 people at a time at the conference in Boston. The trip is not all work related though, as students have some freedom while in Boston.

The team will head to Boston the last week of January, where groups will take on their country Australia’s position relating to topics such as COVID vaccine distribution. 

Additionally, they also get to choose an event to see, either a musical, comedy show, or a sporting event. The conference itself also has fun events like going to Harvard, or a cultural extravaganza/talent show. The team will take trips around Boston to see places like Bunker Hill. Students are glad that the conference is in person this year, so they can experience extra parts of the trip.

“Online was weird and took a lot of patience to get used to,” senior Kendall Callery said. 

Coaches Johnson and Rachel Holden-Kaufmen supervise class building activities, and impromptu debates to practice for the conference. They also teach skills of networking, foreign relations, and the inner workings of international relations and non-profits.

In 2022 HMUN will be 68 years old. The first Model United Nations conference was in 1953. The conference is four days long, and will take place from January 26 to January 30. 

At the conference, students will take on the role of world leaders and make decisions about issues like world hunger, human rights, climate change, and COVID relief. The young leaders will debate the most important issues to create innovative solutions. They will have to rely solely on their preparation since technology is not allowed during the conference. Through collaboration and compromise, students can emerge successful and maybe even win awards, like in years past.