After reading the latest Model UN news, you might think joining Collin College’s award-winning Model UN team is a smart move for your résumé. After all, competing against students from across the U.S. as well as Italy, The Netherlands, China, France, England and Nicaragua, is far from a typical day in school. However, awards and networking are not the only reasons to join this club — just ask Ann Offret and Jackson Reed who were both recently accepted into their dream universities.
Offret was accepted into both Stanford University and Harvard University, and Reed was accepted into the College of Engineering at The University of California, Berkeley. According to professor Tracy Meyer, only two percent of transfer students are admitted to Stanford and only one percent of transfer students are admitted to Harvard.
So how do you get into Model UN?
Well, first you need to sign up for the Model UN class (GOVT 2304) and then you need to be selected to join the team. Typically, 12-16 students travel to the fall conference in Washington D.C. or the spring conference in New York.
Berkley Bound
Reed is a 17-year-old dual credit student who hopes to build a bridge in the future. He was at the conference when he learned he was accepted to Berkley.
“We had students from all over the world who were passionate about their topics and getting their country’s agenda passed,” Reed said. “It was an amazing feeling when our resolution was adopted by acclamation which means everyone agreed that it should be passed.”
Reed says the Model UN interview process really helped with his university interviews. He and his teammates worked 14-hour days to create a passable resolution on humanitarian assistance — increasing the coordination and transparency of funding and highlighting the importance of energy.
“We got to go into the UN building, sit in our countries’ chairs and vote on other committees’ resolutions. It was amazing to sit in the chair of a delegate of the UN,” he said.
Harvard, Stanford and Beyond
Offret served in the U.S. Marine Corps. She plans to earn a teaching certificate, pursue a degree in arts, technology and emerging communications and start her own company.
“I can’t say enough about Professor Iwanek and Professor Meyer,” Offret said. “They truly impacted my experience at Collin College and probably for years to come. What I love about Collin College is that they care about their students’ success. I used the fact that I was in Model UN on my college essays.”
Her team’s resolution on floating barrier systems which allow marine life to flourish passed. The plan includes removing the islands of trash and recycling them into cinder blocks for houses in third world countries.
“The cool thing about these resolutions is that the United Nations will review them and may implement them,” Offret said. “I think that it is awesome to give the younger generations a voice. Model UN helped me restore faith in the fact that world issues are indeed resolvable.”