Welcome to the final edition of the Best Delegate Spring 2021 VMUNC conference recaps! This past fall, Best Delegate launched the Virtual Model United Nations Conference (VMUNC) initiative. With training conferences and advanced invitationals scheduled for the 2020-2021 academic year, VMUNC is a way for students to continue participating in Model UN conferences virtually during the continuing COVID-19 pandemic that has rendered in-person conferences impossible this year.
Our staff cannot believe that VMUNC is ending until the fall! We had such a wonderful time getting to know the delegates, especially seeing the growth in students who participated every month. It has been a pleasure to provide parents, delegates, and advisors with a way to continue to practice MUN skills during the pandemic and connect with others from around the world. VMUNC has also given our staff a chance to hone their chairing, mentoring, and leadership skills. We hope you’ve enjoyed VMUNC as much as we did, and we hope to see you this summer during the Virtual Model UN Institute!
This recap article is particularly special because it showcases the highly anticipated Tournament of Champions (TOC) on May 22-23. The TOC invited award winners from VMUNC invitational conference to participate in a 2-day conference specially tailored to advanced delegates. We also hosted a May Training Conference on May 22-23, giving beginner students a chance to experience MUN and learn while debating.
Read on to learn more about our May conferences!
On May 22 and 23, Best Delegate hosted 4 committees over 2 days for beginner delegates to practice their skills and to provide a welcoming experience for first-timers. Over 80 students joined us in two different committees: World Health Organization, which discussed Mental Health and Wellbeing; and the Disarmament and International Security Committee, which discussed The Use of Military Drones.
“I absolutely loved it! I thought everyone did awesome, and I really want to do this again!”
– VMUNC Delegate
“Overall it was an amazing experience. Having never been to an international conference I felt a bit nervous, however my chair did a great job explaining and made us all feel very comfortable.”
– VMUNC Delegate
Tournament of Champions
Over 100 highly-skilled delegates participated in the Tournament of Champions! On Day 1, the conference acted as a typical General Assembly committee, focusing on resolution writing. On Day 2, delegates were challenged with more of a Crisis-type of committee, and responded to multiple crisis updates via directives. Each committee included a Chair and 2 judges to give feedback and scores to each delegate.
The Tournament of Champions featured United Nations Security Council committees, which closely simulated the real UNSC by including all the current countries on the council, with the Permanent Five members retaining their veto power. These additions challenged our delegates to strategically apply their public speaking, bloc formation, diplomacy, research, and writing skills.
Delegates tackled unique issues such as the Situation in Yemen and UN Peacekeeping Missions in Africa. Our staff were so impressed by the top-quality debates in each of their committees and truly enjoyed seeing the top delegates around the world collaborate and compete with one another.
All in all, the Tournament of Champions was an excellent way to close out the semester with a big bang of the gavel. We thank you for your continued interest and we hope to see you soon!
“All the kids in ToC are so competitive with their bloc politics (in a good way), it makes me feel like I’m in a conference on the circuit watching these unmods!”
-VMUNC MUN Mentor
“This is by far the most exciting and fun MUN I have ever participated in. The chair was capable of holding the meeting, and the delegates were highly qualified.”
-VMUNC Delegate
“This was by far the best MUN committee I have ever done. The chair was an absolutely amazing chair. She explained everything so well and gave so much information and was so nice! All the delegates in the committee were clearly very high level as the level of debate was unlike anything I’ve seen before in any conferences I’ve done. This conference was great, and I feel like I definitely made some friends in addition to the friends I got to see again in committee!”
-VMUNC Delegate
Tournament of Champions Awards
Best Delegate Award
| Name | Country | School | Committee |
| Sujay Edavalapati | Ireland | Bridgewater-Raritan High School | UNSC Blue |
| Hutter Isabela | India | Homeschool | UNSC Diamond |
| Netra Easwaran | Kenya | Horace Greeley High School | UNSC Gold |
| Sophia Rosenkranz | United States | Francis W. Parker | UNSC Green |
| Tasneem Ghadiali | United Kingdom | Lexington High School | UNSC Orange |
| Abhijay Edavalapati | Estonia | Bridgewater-Raritan High School | UNSC Purple |
| Alexios Eleftheriou | Norway | A2 Academy | UNSC Red |
| Lekha Anand | United Kingdom | Harvest Park | UNSC Yellow |
Outstanding Delegate Award
| Name | Country | School | Committee |
| Charlie Abbott | India | Claremont High School | UNSC Blue |
| Yuming Chen | Norway | Crean Lutheran High School | UNSC Blue |
| Emile Smith | Kenya | Austin High School | UNSC Diamond |
| Isabela McMahon | Vietnam | Monomoy Regional High School | UNSC Diamond |
| Sean McKeown | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Julia R. Masterman High School | UNSC Gold |
| Daniel Mukhin | China | Park Tudor School | UNSC Gold |
| Isabella Gilligan | India | Bala cynwyd middle school | UNSC Green |
| Zoe Jacques | Russia | Highlands Academy Homeschool | UNSC Green |
| Siddharth Jayakrishnan | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | North Allegheny Senior High School | UNSC Orange |
| Arnav Lakhia | Vietnam | Thomas Edison Energysmart Charter School | UNSC Orange |
| Natalie Wong | Tunisia | Castilleja School | UNSC Purple |
| Aliyah Brownstein | Mexico | Bala cynwyd middle school | UNSC Red |
| Samiksha Pyndi | Estonia | Jay M. Robinson Middle School | UNSC Red |
| Holden Lee | Estonia | Frank S. Greene Middle School | UNSC Yellow |
| Aditya Nalabotu | Niger | Harvest Park Middle School | UNSC Yellow |
Honorable Mention Award
| Name | Country | School | Committee |
| Christina Paz Arguello | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Golden Valley High School | UNSC Blue |
| Umair Mahmood | United Kingdom | San Marcos High School | UNSC Blue |
| Yaqine Saada | United Kingdom | Knights of Knowledge International School | UNSC Diamond |
| Abby Langer | Norway | Park Tudor School | UNSC Diamond |
| Theresa McGeary | China | Sentinel High School | UNSC Diamond |
| Aavyn Fox | United Kingdom | Fairview High School | UNSC Gold |
| Yasmin Tarek Omran | Niger | Knights of Knowledge International School | UNSC Gold |
| Dani Savin | Vietnam | North Shore Country Day School | UNSC Green |
| Nikita Mukhin | China | Park Tudor School | UNSC Green |
| Sam Belmar | Niger | Justice High School | UNSC Orange |
| Dylan Wechsler | France | Syosset High School | UNSC Orange |
| Devansh Pandey | Norway | Foothill High School | UNSC Purple |
| Rania Jones | France | Francis W Parker | UNSC Purple |
| Erik Hsu | United Kingdom | Taipei American School | UNSC Purple |
| Amelie Grakoui | Tunisia | Atlanta International School | UNSC Red |
| Anish Vedantham | Russia | Providence Day School | UNSC Red |
| Nikhil Rughwani | Mexico | Collegiate School | UNSC Yellow |
| Ishaan Busireddy | Tunisia | Folly Quarter Middle School | UNSC Yellow |
