Despite coming home empty-handed, the delegates of the Harvard Model UN debate team said they were satisfied with their performance and will be better prepared for the competition next year.

Captain of the Harvard Model UN debate team junior Shelby Fauvel said attending the second hardest Model UN conference in the country challenged her to utilize all of the skills she learned from previous debates in order to impress her chair and representatives.

“It was intense and eye-opening because it showed me the people of the world and how dedicated and smart they were with politics and the global economy,” she said.

Freshman Ben Kalish, who had never attended a debate conference, was amazed at the intensity of competition and the level at which the other students in his committee had immersed themselves into their topics.

“The people with whom we were working were at the pinnacle of their league in which they competed. Even though we did not win awards, I feel like we worked the absolute best we possibly could have with what was given to us,” he said.

The conference was the most aggressive one attended by the Saint Stephen’s Model UN team thus far. In this environment, freshman Jenna Turner said she learned how to perfect her debating.

“I learned how to work with other people. I was able to work on my public speaking skills, and I learned a lot about my topic,” she said.

Debate Coach and history teacher Ms. Pat Murphy said she understood the intensity of the competition going into the tournament.

“Our students put forth an effort to do the best they could. I learned I could pull back the expectation of them having to win awards. The experience was more important to me,” she said.

This years participants were:

Junior Monique Chicvak

Freshman James DeMaio

Sophomore Will Drogt

Junior Shelby Fauvel

Sophomore Justin Gregorius

Junior Ben Israel

Freshman Ben Kalish

Freshman Kevan Patel

Freshman Dylan Patterson

Freshman Faith Rodriguez

Freshman Jenna Turner

Freshman Andrew Zandomenego