Rollins College Home

R-Journals Home
Apply Now! Meet Aditya Meet Brittany Meet Daniel Meet Jenn Meet Omar
Meet Shannon
Admission R-Journals Feedback Campus Web Cam

R-Journals

Back to R-Journals home

Spring Break in Manhattan

March 31, 2008

I took a week off club meetings, midterms stress, and sunny Florida weather and left for the cold of New York City for spring break. This was in mid-march, so about a week before spring officially started I left Rollins to get my mind off classes for a week of non-stop work. Working for the National High School Model United Nations was probably the most intense week I have ever experienced, and at the same time it duly fits the quote, “life is not measured by the number of breaths you take but rather the number of times it takes your breath away.”

The admin staff for the NHSMUN conference was a tightly-knit family to which I entered not knowing anyone and left with some of the best friends I could have ever hoped for. Only two of us came from colleges in Florida and it is unfortunate that most of the largest conferences are found in the Northeast. Many of you interested in joining us this upcoming fall would want to know that we’re thinking of continuing to attend the Harvard conference in the spring and possibly attend the UPMUNC (University of Pennsylvania Model UN Conference) in the late fall. Currently, the exec board positions include Ariane Rosen as Co-President, Artie Grizzle as Vice-President, and Christopher McCauley as Secretary. If you click on their names, you should be directed to their email addresses.

The last event Rollins Model UN hosted was a panel discussion on immigration last Monday evening April 7th. We had as a special guest Mr. Patrick Mesón, the Consul for Outreach Programs from the Consulate of Mexico to the city of Orlando who dealt with Mexico-US relations and focused on this theme of “shared responsibility.” Dr. Michael Gunter, the advisor of Rollins Model UN was also on the panel discussing environmental migration and Dr. Bob Moore, professor of Anthropology, discussed Chinese migration to the US. We also had two of our very own students, Ariane Rosen (Co-President) and Arthur Grizzle (Vice-President) in the panel discussing the problem of North African immigrants to Malta. They were both very knowledgeable about the issue at hand because they represented Malta at the conference in Boston in the Social, Cultural, and Humanitarian Committee and co-authored a resolution on migrant workers.

After the panel, Mr. Patrick Mesón accompanied us for dinner at 310 Park South where we were able to continue our conversations in a more casual setting. We were there until midnight and our discussions traveled from his work in the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs to our future careers in diplomacy. I did not sleep later that evening but you’ll find out why in the next entry.

R-Journals is a program sponsored by the Offices of Admissions and Public Relations & Communications. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Click here to send your comments.

Omar's R-Journal archives: