Fly to New York, walk proudly into the United Nations headquarters and work with over 5,000 students from all over the world. That’s what the National Model United Nations is all about. Dozens of LUISS students took part in it this year and were awarded prizes by the Consules Association.
Among them was Maria Elena Sandalli, enrolled in the bachelor’s degree program in Political Science: “I have always been fascinated by the world of international organizations, which is why I decided to register with NMUN.” The nine days she spent in New York were “a great opportunity to build on concepts I learned at LUISS, comparing them with what really happens internationally and to discover other ways of studying”. All of the Italian students who participated met in Rome before they left, in order to study together and to do a preliminary simulation of the work of the United Nations entirely in English. “We ended up building strong friendships” with the many foreign students in New York.
In the United States, students carried out a series of negotiations and simulations of the work of the UN. LUISS students represented delegations from the United States and Haiti: “A very professional, 360 degree experience,” says Maria Elena, “one that shapes you academically and personally.”
For Maria Elena, who has lived in several countries around the world, it was her first time in the Big Apple: “Even having lived abroad, I’ve never seen anything like it!” For this reason as well, NMUN “is an experience I’d recommend to everyone.” Now that she is preparing her bachelor’s thesis with Professor Lorenzo De Sio, Maria Elena has no doubts about her future: “I will stay at LUISS for my master’s degree as well, and then I would like, I don’t know, to take part in another Consules simulation, maybe this time in Europe.”