Though the average age for a member of the United States Congress is 57, high school students from around Minnesota got the opportunity to participate in the YMCA’s Youth In Government Model United Nations over Spring Break, acting as government figures of foreign countries.

Students took on various roles at the event, Mar. 26-28 in Minneapolis.  Participants included:  junior Patrick Commers, sophomores Peter Schleisman, Ellis Tomlinson, Moira McCarthy, and Kathryn Schmechal, freshmen Hunter von Tersch Pohrer and Stephanie Frisch, and three middle school students.

Below, Schmechel and McCarthy share a day in the life of a St.Paul Academy and Summit School student at Model United Nations (MUN) representing the Maldives:

“We woke up each morning at 7:40 am to have a world briefing and then went to our organs (General Assembly, Security Council, Human Rights Council, Economic and Social Council, and International Court of Justice) or committees. I was in the Human Rights Council where we discussed resolutions representing our countries views. Before hand we do research on the topics which focused on victims of gender violence,  censorship of speech, and prison conditions,” McCarthy said.

“I was in the Social Humanitarian and Cultural Committee. One of the resolutions we worked on was changing sea levels which was good because the Maldives is an island nation and has the lowest high point in the entire world (2.4 feet). We ended up on a resolution that worked to stop sea levels from continuing to rise while also helping those living on islands like the Maldives,” Schmechel said.

After lunch, where students were able to explore restaurants in the area with friends, attendees returned to their organizations or committees.

“On Saturday evening [Mar. 28], we had the secretary general’s banquet, where Amy Klobuchar came and talked about the UN and the importance of our work at the conference.” Schmechel said.

“One night the security council had a late night session at midnight because North Korea had taken down a plane of ambassadors and they had to figure out what to do,” McCarthy said.

At the end of each day at about 1 am, students went to sleep to start the next day all over again. “People truly get into the character and spirit of their country and make the experience a great one,” Schmechel said.

This story was updated on 3/31/15 at 10:10 a.m. to include the names of all upper school participants.