by Gaby Munn ’16
[This is part seven in a series of 10 pieces of student writing about the Inly Middle School’s experience at Montessori Model United Nations in New York City.]
When my classmates and I were in Children’s House and Elementary, people would often come in and speak to us about recycling and planting trees to help the environment. At the time, environmental issues didn’t really hit me as serious problems. But looking back on these presentations, I see that they weren’t just about planting trees, or putting the right things in the recycling bin. They were about opening our minds and helping us see how we could make an impact on the world, no matter how small we are.
Over the past few years, online news sources have become a more prominent part of my life and I’ve gotten more interested in world news and current events. I like keeping up with world news, understanding what’s happening in other cultures, and learning about other peoples’ opinions. It makes me wonder about how I will make an impact on the world. After all, I’m bigger than I was in Children’s House and Elementary — but considering the scale of the whole world, I’m still pretty small.
Some of my friends want to be movie stars or athletes when we grow up, while others of us hope to become doctors or lawyers. No matter what we want to be when we get older, we all want to have some sort of impact on the world. As I get older, I’m learning more about the things that I strongly believe in, and I’m realizing that there are some problems in our world that I want to change. For example, the idea that some little girls can’t afford shoes while others are living in castles never seemed fair — not when I was five years old, and still not now. Different cultures have interested me since I knew what the word “culture” meant, and I love learning about how people live differently than myself. I care that even when things aren’t equal, they are fair.
Going to MMUN and working with so many people who have the same Montessori background as I do was an incredible experience. I loved learning about their perspectives, what they believe in, and how they hope to make an impact on the world. I like looking at situations from many different perspectives and through different mediums, like reading history text books, seeing photos from around the world, listening to the personal stories of other people, and having new experiences myself. It’s powerful to see people expressing themselves in hopes of making a difference in the world, and that’s what MMUN was all about.
For more in this series, check out these links:
“Montessori Model United Nations: In Their Own Words” by Paran Quigley and Jen McGonagle, Inly Middle School Teachers and MMUN Advisors
“Montessori Model United Nations: Work Worth Doing” by Benjamin Bison ’16
“One Delegate, Two Model UN Experiences” by Jonah Lee ’15
“Developing a Global Perspective” by Alec Perez ’15
“Follow the Leader” by Emma Kahn ’15
“Are You My Mentor?” by Alexander deMurias ’15
MMUN Reflection Excerpts by Mia Bilezikian ’15
“When I Grow Up…” by Gaby Munn ’16
“Global Group Dynamics” by Marty Morris ’15
“How It All Stacks Up: MMUN Compared to Other Field Studies” by Justin Cokinos ’16
“New York, Model UN, and Middle Schoolers — What Could Go Wrong?
(Spoiler Alert: Nothing)” by Kathryn Goebel ’15