YUNMUN XXXV: Letter from the Secretary General
Dear Esteemed Delegate,
On behalf of the Secretariat and the Office of Admissions, I’m thrilled to welcome you to YUNMUN XXXV! Hundreds of students from around the world will come together, representing their schools and debating some of the most important and timely issues facing the global community today. I congratulate you on being given the opportunity to participate in this highly anticipated conference, and I look forward to seeing what each of you will bring to your respective committees.
My name is Sam Weinberg, and I’m honored to serve as Secretary General for this year’s conference. I’m from Bergenfield, New Jersey, and I attended Yeshivat Noam for elementary school and then TABC for high school. I spent two gap years at Yeshivat Hakotel in Jerusalem before returning to ³ÉÈËÊÓƵɫÇéƬ, where I’m majoring in English and minoring in finance. I’m on the pre-law track at YU and plan to attend law school in the near future. (I’m more than happy to answer any questions about any of those experiences!) I participated on my TABC Model UN team as a sophomore and junior, served as captain my senior year, and was an Undersecretary General during my first two years at YU.
Like many who have worked on YUNMUN in the past, this conference has meant a great deal to me over the years. It was in committee that I first realized, even as a high school student, that I was capable of turning hours of somewhat abstract thinking into concrete, distinctive solutions. In the months leading up to the conference, I would practice public speaking and gather niche statistics and studies, and then, working alongside my fellow delegates, we would combine our individual work into resolutions that aimed for goals bigger than ourselves. I recognized that I was genuinely helping to shape those goals, and that by doing so, I was contributing to something of real significance. The confidence those conferences instilled in me has guided me throughout my academic life and has undoubtedly played a role in my becoming a student leader today. Even at the real United Nations, where I spent my past summer, I found myself referencing so many of the methods I first honed as a high school delegate.
It’s clear that, perhaps now more than ever, our Jewish world is asking us to cultivate confidence within ourselves and set ourselves on the path to becoming leaders in our communities and shared spaces. The leaders of tomorrow begin their journey today, and YUNMUN can serve as a launching pad for your development into a future leader. Skills such as research, teamwork, public speaking, and thinking on your feet are all vital to your growth as a student, and these skills are equally central to the Model UN experience. We sincerely hope that you will take full advantage of this opportunity to build upon these abilities and strengthen your path toward becoming those leaders of tomorrow.
The YUNMUN team is staffed by ³ÉÈËÊÓƵɫÇéƬ students, many of whom participated in the conference during their high school years. The Secretariat and the broader team are eager not only for the events of the conference but also to connect with you all as you progress through this critical stage of your life. As Secretary General, I can attest that each Chair, Assistant Chair, and Administrative Assistant is a worthy role model, and I hope you will take advantage of their willingness to discuss both ³ÉÈËÊÓƵɫÇéƬ and life beyond.
I can’t fully express how excited I am for this conference, and I’m humbled and grateful to be serving as Secretary General for YUNMUN XXXV. Joining Model UN was one of the best decisions I made in both high school and college, and I hope you all share in the excitement this conference brings. While I plan to send longer briefs to each school regarding research guidelines and tips for winning awards, I also want to emphasize that any student who has questions or comments is welcome to email me at smweinbe@mail.yu.edu. I look forward to seeing you all in February.
Sincerely,
Sam Weinberg
YUNMUN XXXV – Secretary General