Best of the Week 2019-2020: Holy Cross Values
CLEIMUN20 BRINGS OPPORTUNITY FOR EDSMEN TO EXHIBIT HOLY CROSS VALUES OF GRIT, CHARACTER AND RELATIONSHIPS
Over the weekend, Edsmen Model UN members participated in the Cleveland International Model UN 2020 Conference in partnership with the Cleveland Council on World Affairs. Having created relationships with other high school students from Mentor High School, Western Reserve, Collegiate Academy, Archbishop Hoban, Hathaway Brown and Saint Joseph Academy, St. George in Chile and more through previous Model UN conferences, Edsmen teamed up with their fellow peers to discuss and debate a wide array of topics on international affairs. "Throughout the year, I've seen our Edsmen Model UN members grab hold of the opportunities presented to them to find their inner selves, break out of their shells and show immense growth in self-confidence, cultural and global awareness, maturity, their networking and relationships," says Director of International Programs and Model UN Moderator Mr. Michael Perrins. "Building relationships is so crucial to future workplace skills and is fundamentally important for our students to learn. One of the greatest aspects of CLEIMUN for our students, in addition to attending local conferences and traveling abroad to attend international conferences, has been the opportunity for them to meet students their ages from all backgrounds, cultures, countries and continents. Connecting and working collaboratively with them has been a key life skill that our students get to learn through these engaging, hands-on, professional experiences."
"My favorite aspect of the CLEIMUN20 conference itself was seeing months and months of hard work come to fruition in such an exciting way," says Richard Perrins '20. "In my opinion, Model UN is one of the most valuable opportunities an Edsman can take advantage of learning international mindedness, diplomacy and persuasion while also becoming forward-thinking and confident and exhibiting all the qualities within the Seven Standards of an Edsman. Without Model UN, I would have never interacted with or befriended so many people from all around the world."
"Leading, organizing, and participating in Model UN conferences has allowed me to meet and befriend students from China, Germany, Turkey, and many other countries," says Coleman Isner '20. "These students all possess different perspectives than my own and the process of empathizing with and understanding them has impacted me greatly. Relationships play a central role in Model UN. Some students like to 'dominate' the room through debate, but I think a more effective strategy involves empathy and servant leadership. Friendly, transparent delegates form coalitions and compromises more effectively than others. The ultimate goal of the United Nations is to seek solutions step by step and forming solid relationships makes this challenging process possible. Nevertheless, to become a successful delegate, students need to strengthen their grit to get past setbacks, build relationships and trust to push their resolutions through, sacrifice their time, and display character and excellence to gain the respect of their committees. CLEIMUN challenges students to think about the challenges billions of people face around the globe and the human-centered focus relies on Holy Cross values to create and pass effective solutions."
Film students Zeke Schmiedl '20, Richard Perrins '20, Matt Quinn '23 and Van Weinmann '23 created a short video (above) summarizing our students' experience at CLEIMUN20, highlighting the work they presented as well as their biggest takeaways from participating in Model UN together. "In the video, you see me reference Grit, one of our Seven Standards of an Edsman. Grit plays a strong element in Model UN planning and approaches and fits perfectly along with other standards and Holy Cross values that our students embody during the Model UN experience," says Mr. Perrins. "Developing an awareness and understanding of issues in local, regional, national and international settings and environments through Model UN encourages our students to have a positive, innovative and impactful voice in this world. For teenagers from all different backgrounds to come together and show just how proactive, involved, intelligent and caring they can be shows the enormous good they have to offer."
