Compared to other years, Cosmun 2018 was a total mess in regards to preparation and organization. There was a lack of transparency regarding the grading system in order to participate in the model. We know how important grades have become for administrators, but to what extent are they willing to keep students from participating because of a few potentially insignificant grades? This year they tried to be more strict about grades, but they only created chaos and disorder.

Weeks before the model started, people were warned about IE’s and low grades, but they could easily fix those grades due to the amount of time reaming before the event. A week before Cosmun started, the school started to kick out people, leaving some time to find replacement in each respective area. The real issue came when administrators told students the day the model started, that they had to fix their grades or they would be kicked out, which affected the model as many couldn’t fix their grades in less than 8 hours; henceforth, it left no time for replacement of those positions. “The IE system was a great challenge for us this year, especially in the last few days. Only hours away from the beginning of the event we were dealing with people being kicked out: presidents struggling to fix their grades in order to participate which could have affected the model,” Manuela Betancourt, Secretary-General for 2019 stated. It’s easy to replace a logistics crew member or even a delegate, but how can you replace a president just a few hours before the model starts?

Cosmun shouldn’t depend so much on grades, especially because it is an academic activity that can help you develop many skills not only for school but also for life. “ I don’t think Cosmun should depend totally on grades… Cosmun actually requires a lot of work, so I think it levels off the requirement of perfect grades in order to participate,” Federico Caro, Secretary-General of 2018 stated. Cosmun has become a really strict academic experience which substantially affects the model and its amount of participants. “It shouldn’t depend completely on grades because some people are really good in this type of things… intelligence is not measured in how responsible you are, and if you are not so responsible and very intelligent you need things like Cosmun to help you get into college,” Isabel Arias, Press President stated.

Many students who were warned about being kicked out had passing grades or even superior grades, but they were held back or left in suspense in whether or not they could participate until last minute because of a few IE’s that could’ve been fixed later. “My grades have always been really good, and attending Cosmun was a done deal but they told me last minute that I had 2 art IEs and that I had to fix those grades in order to be in the model… I was surprised to know that a two IE’s could’ve affected my participation on a model that I’m so passionate about and at the end, it’s an academic activity,” Eliana Lopez, a 2018 delegate stated. It’s clear that grades do matter in Cosmun, but there is no point in kicking out people who have passing grades or even good grades since those people can be of great help to the model.

For next year, a specific time limit to count in grades should be established. Also, requirements in order to participate in the model should be clear since the begging. This way, the pressure and stress of having to fix grades with a small amount of time and the lack of order in preparation for the model could be avoided. “I didn’t feel good about people being kicked out, I expressed it with my presidents and with Erika (COSMUN director), I said I don’t think its fair that I’m losing people and Cosmun is losing people the first day it started when you had time to do this before…There should be a time limit to check out grades, and that is something that could be improved for next year Cosmun 2019,” Caro said.