by Jeffrey Troyer
With much anticipation and build-up, MUN LOCALS was set to return to the campus of ISM for the first time since 2019. And it did not disappoint! On Friday September 29th and Saturday the 30th, a hearty and well-prepared group of IB1 and 2 GESM students were treated to such highlights as a keynote speech by current First Lady of the Philippines, her Excellency Liza Araneta Marcos, and some of the most challenging and important world topics of the day to debate.
Embracing the theme of “Sustainability” in all areas of the conference (even down to bringing their own eating utensils to eat with!), eight IBDP students including Shagorika Kar (Gr.12), Aryan Sharma (Gr.12) Seung An (Gr.12), Navya Sharma (Gr. 11), Hannah Seo (Gr. 11), Ayaana Singh (Gr.11), Cassandra Capinpin (Gr. 11) and Nathania “Jia” Chiu (Gr.11), proudly represented GESM as conference delegates. They joined nearly 300 students from various parts of the Philippines to discuss pressing committee topics ranging from the situation in Myanmar to supporting economies for sustainable development. On the international response to the Ukraine conflict as well as the tension in the South China Sea, refugee concerns, energy access in Europe and a host of other pressing topics consuming headlines around the world.
Overall, our student participants showed a commendable level of commitment and are to be commended for their efforts to learn about current events and issues. Special mention must also go out to our outstanding acting Secretary General, Shagorika Kar. Once again, Shagorika confidently led most of the preparation sessions during lunch meetings. We were even graced with the presence of some LFM students desiring to learn about our MUN program at GESM and hope that they can join us for our next conference TBA. With three or more events possible in 2024, we have some nice choices for our budding ambassadors and future world leaders at GESM!
