Inside the National High School Model U.N. Conference
Looey Pereira (pictured above)
Ninth-grader, Fairfax, Virginia
It’s quite an interesting time to represent Canada.
Yeah, I go to an online school, and we were assigned Canada; each school got a country. I was on the Habitat Committee, and we discussed how to make sporting events like the Olympics more sustainable — it didn’t really impact much. But what’s happening in the news has shown up in a lot of my other classmates’ committees and brought on a lot of colorful conversations.
And I love your red coat — it reminds me of the Canadian flag.
I really, really like this coat because I thrifted it in Finland for €5. And I have a few special pins — a Spider-Man pin, a South Park pin, two queer ones, plus a he/him pin.
The kids still like South Park, huh?
Yeah, it’s really funny.
Armando Coronella
12th-grader, Frignano, Italy
Dov Klapper
12th-grader, Sharon, Massachusetts
Which country are you representing?
I am Bolivia. Last time, I was Indonesia, and I successfully worsened human rights worldwide. It was a glaring look into how easy it is to influence world politics without people noticing.
Matilde Rodriguez
12th-grader, Guadalajara, Mexico
Natalia Gómez
11th-grader, Mexico City, Mexico
Carla Neri
11th-grader, Mexico City, Mexico
Sage Primavera
12th-grader, York, Pennsylvania
Are you thinking you might want to pursue a career in politics?
My main goal is to become a fashion designer. I want to help create a fashion line that’s very androgynous, where a person of any gender or body type can really look good in it. A lot of the time in runway shows, the outfits are skewed toward one gender rather than a gender-neutral brand.
Samiya Rubaiya
12th-grader, Kensington
Is this your first conference?
It’s my 16th — and my last one. I think the biggest thing I’ve learned is that people will never have consensus. You can have a group of people you’ll agree with but even then not fully. You have to make it work and be willing to give up some things. And you should always speak.
Lorenzo Dezzutti
13th-grader, Agliè, Italy
Katie Palau
12th-grader, Goshen
Gus Zolov
11th-grader, Park Slope
Lars Harmon
11th-grader, Manhattan Beach, California
Sophia Al-Damanhouri
Eighth-grader, Guadalupe, Mexico
I heard you speak five languages. Wow.
I’m fluent in Spanish and English, and I speak French, Mandarin, and Arabic. Sometimes people say, “Pick a language,” because I say one sentence in English and another in Spanish and I mix it all up. I don’t even know that I’m speaking both languages. I just feel like I’m speaking one.
Christian David Ibarra Alvarez
Tenth-grader, Tlaquepaque, Mexico
How does this conference compare with others you’ve gone to?
I’ve attended a couple in Mexico before. This one has a lot more people; it’s multicultural, multilateral. So you have more points of view and more discussion but better solutions.
Meadow-Rose Lumezi
12th-grader, Middletown
Federico Cignelli
13th-grader, Porto Santo Stefano, Italy
Hamed Al-Rawahi
12th-grader, Wadi Al Maawil, Oman
Ryan Crispino
Tenth-grader, Kensington
Any big takeaways from the conference?
I’ve learned that even though we’re all fighting for the same thing, we all have different values and different motives and incentives. And the process for solving a problem in this world is very long.
Valeria Calderón Visoso
11th-grader, Mexico City, Mexico
Photographs by Frankie Alduino
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