GOA junior Alma Adiel has earned the 1st place title of Best Delegate once again at the Jewish Canadian Youth Model United Nations (JCYMUN) conference, this time representing the People’s Republic of China.
“I do not know of another delegate, certainly none from GOA in the last 12 years, that has won 3 years in a row. Alma’s achievement puts her in the GOA MUN Hall of Fame!” said Model UN advisor Mrs. Smith.
Throughout the three-day event in Montreal, Canada, Adiel debated from China’s perspective and proposed resolutions on controversial topics, including “AI Content Ownership and Privacy” and “Intellectual Property Rights for Medical Technologies.”
“If I had to say why we chose her, it’s because of her confidence, mainly while being put on the spot, and the way she led many of the discussions,” said Nadav Albilya, Adiel’s committee chair in the simulated World Intellectual Property Organization. “What she said was both enthusiastic and related to the actual topic instead of deviating from it.”
In past years, Adiel was awarded Honorable Mention (3rd Place) representing the Republic of Iraq in the United Nations Environment Programme committee, and Best Delegate representing the Arab Republic of Egypt in the Food and Agriculture Organization committee.
Adiel said, “I felt extremely proud of myself when I won again. I worked very hard in preparation for the conference and represented myself strongly in debate. Also, winning multiple times proves that this is from my dedication and hard work– not a one-time thing.”
Adiel’s thorough preparation included writing a strong position paper on China’s political views, researching other countries’ policies for comparison, selecting appropriate nations as allies and predicting verbal attacks to create counterarguments.
“Especially when representing a country with controversial views, like China… I had many Rights of Replies (which is permission to respond to a personal or national insult), which required me to spontaneously take the knowledge I had and defend myself while counterattacking the other delegate.”
In ninth grade, Adiel initially joined Model UN for the overnight trip and the social opportunities it offered. However, she quickly learned that Model UN was more than that; it was the perfect place to develop her public speaking and creative thinking skills.
She explained that compellingly projecting her voice is a skill that she has “been honing for many years, and is imperative in a competition like MUN.”
“Since joining Model UN, my public speaking has grown tremendously because I pushed myself to speak more often,” said sophomore Noa Rejwan. “With practice, I became much more comfortable and confident sharing my ideas.”
While Model UN is certainly a serious ordeal, after the official committee meetings, delegates had the opportunity to unwind with “FunMUN,” engaging in off-topic debates, scenarios and bonding activities.
As a part of FunMUN, Adiel collaborated with the Russian delegate to wage nuclear war on the rest of the world, and in the process, “got nuked” themselves.
“My favorite part of Model UN is making new connections and learning from my fellow delegates. It’s such a great opportunity to see others’ strengths and see where I can improve, building my self-confidence,” Adiel said.
