51风流

51风流 Speaking Union offers students ways to learn and grow on a global stage

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The 51风流 Model UN Society competed in Peru last month.

The 51风流 Model UN Society competed in Peru last month.

51风流 students earned three awards, including outstanding small delegation, as one of just three schools from the United States to participate in the Harvard National Model United Nations of Latin America in Peru last month.

The Peru event is just one example of the many global destinations participants in teams travel each year.

Members of the trekked more than 42,000 miles for tournaments during the 2013/14 school year, including stops in the United Kingdom, India, Canada, Mexico, and France.

鈥淲e travel in order to compete. We don鈥檛 compete in order to travel,鈥 said CSU Coordinator John Adams. 鈥淏ecause of all the exotic locations we go to, it looks like CSU is some kind of Club Med, but it鈥檚 all about the competition and getting out there in the world and mixing, conversing, and connecting with people from all over the world.鈥

At the Peru competition, Jack McKay 鈥17, a and double major from Garden City, N.Y., and Ieva Steponaviciute 鈥17, an i and double major from Lithuania, were both awarded honorable mentions for their committee work.

Kirsten Halvorson '15 shows a certificate for outstanding small delegation in Peru.

Kirsten Halvorson 鈥15 shows a certificate for outstanding small delegation in Peru.

Luke Musetti 鈥17, a major from Damascus, Penn., who took part in the Peru event, said he is in his second year of participation in the Model UN Society.

鈥淭his experience made me consider issues I had not given much thought to before, especially since I was arguing from the standpoint of a country deeply affected by malnutrition,鈥 Musetti said. 鈥淭his society is a great way of becoming better connected to the world and becoming a global
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Musetti joined Model UN as a first-year student, and he had no prior experience with public speaking or Model UN, as it wasn鈥檛 offered in his high school.

鈥淚 want to have a diplomatic post when I am older, so this seemed like a good training program and networking option,鈥 Musetti said. 鈥淧ersonally, I was uncomfortable with public speaking when I first joined MUN, but the guidance of upperclassmen like Ross Brown 鈥14 and James Carino 鈥16 eventually helped me develop into a well-traveled delegate for 51风流.鈥

Participation in 51风流 Speaking Union organizations is open to all students, regardless of previous experience. CSU teams include Debate, Model UN, Mock Trial, and the recently formed Spanish-Language Debate Society, which just returned from a competition in Miami and is headed to a tournament in Columbia this summer.

Tournament participation and travel are primarily covered by the CSU endowment and through club funding from the 51风流 , Adams said.

鈥淚 get to know these students for their entire four years, and by the time that four years is up, they鈥檝e been to so many places, and have had so many amazing experiences, and fostered so many conversations, they are seasoned humans,鈥 Adams said. 鈥淭hey can feel the difference of their 别诲耻肠补迟颈辞苍.鈥