Twenty TCS students, representing the school’s MUN Club, participated in the fifteenth edition of Colegio San José de Las Vegas Model United Nations––VMUN XV.

The TCS MUN Club, over the past years, has been the extracurricular club responsible for preparing TCS students to participate in other Model UN conferences across Colombia. For this conference, 20 students from both MS and HS participated in 10 of the eleven committees at the event, discussing different topics of global concern. “We have great leaders in our MUN Club who work to motivate and enable students to sign up and participate regularly in local MUNs. These students work closely with Columbus Life to organize the logistics and participants,” David Murphy, TCS MUN Club General Sponsor, said.

TCS participants prepared in anticipation of the debates, writing their opening statements and position papers for their respective countries to represent. For instance, in the SPECPOL committee––the fourth committee of the United Nations General Assembly focused on special politics and decolonization––the topics that were debated included the conflicts in the Gaza Strip, the recognition of Palestine as a sovereign state, and stateless ethnic groups in Thailand.

“Many of the discussions were centered on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, where we had to look for a peaceful solution. However, as I represented Russia, where I was as a delegation, I was looking to gain more power by fostering diplomatic relationships in the press releases at the end. However, the other delegates were also really prepared, so in general, the model was really challenging. I really liked it,” Samuel Mendivelso, Grade 10 student and TCS MUN Club President, said.

Of the 20 participants from TCS, seven students received academic awards. Senior and COSMUN 2025 Secretary-General Joaquín Pérez, as well as Grade 9 student Sofía Rodríguez, received awards for Best Delegates; Senior and TCS MUN Club President Pedro González and Grade 7 student Raquel Sierra received awards for Outstanding Delegates; Grade 10 student and TCS MUN Club President Samuel Mendivelso was awarded Best Speaker; and Senior Martín Villa––as well as Emilio Ángel, Grade 10––won awards for Best Argumentative Lines. Moreover, Grade 10 student Sofía Montes received an Honorable Mention. “At TCS, we have a really solid foundation for MUN through both the Club and COSMUN. This allows students to get involved early on and build their skills to become outstanding delegates and represent the school well. Also, our leadership team provides great support, which has led to great outcomes when our MUN Club participates in other models,” Murphy said.

VMUN is one of the preferred models to attend in Medellín by many members of the TCS MUN Club. Its academic excellence is one of the many features remarked upon by many participants of the event––not only from TCS but from all participants as a whole, including teachers. The TCS MUN Club missed out on the Best Delegation award by a narrow margin. It is an award granted to the school with the best academic participation across the entire event, which went to Colegio Colombo Británico de Envigado for the second year in a row. “I think we did a great job preparing for VMUN as a Club, and it’s a shame we missed out on the Best Delegation award. We really had a great chance this year. When it comes to preparing for COSMUN 2025, we’re going to do a great job alongside the Secretariat, and it’s going to be really complete. If we keep doing it at this level, we’re going to have the best model in Colombia,” Mendivelso said.

From logistics to press, and even presidents, students from Colegio San José de Las Vegas go through lengthy filters to participate. On the final day of the event, during the closing ceremony, the leaders for next year’s conference were named––including some new faces. “⁠I want to inspire little kids and everyone in general to love this as much as I do,” Mariana Escobar, newly elected San José de Las Vegas VMUN XVI Secretary-General, said.