On February 5-8, 2026, Lake Forest Academy’s Model United Nations team travelled to Chicago to compete in the annual Model United Nations Conference of the University of Chicago (MUNUC) – one of the world’s largest high school conferences. Located at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Chicago, the conference hosted over 3000 students from around the world to address international matters and create future leaders.
At LFA, 46 students were chosen to compete in MUNUC after roughly 100 students tried out. MUN is a popular and coveted club. Getting accepted requires passing two tests, including writing a mock report on the state of a country with a given international issue and a quiz on one or two countries given beforehand to study.
Once accepted into the club, preparation meetings start. Delegates rank different committees based on their preferences and then are assigned committees and countries closer to the conference. Committees are separated into seven groups: General Assembly, Social and Economic Council, Regional Bodies, Specialized Agencies, Hybrid Committees, Continuous Crisis and Ad-Hoc Committee of the Secretary-General. Within each group, there are more committees such as the Legal Committee, Economic and Financial Committee, the World Meteorological Organization and more.
History & Social Science Teacher Christian Dozois leads LFA delegates to MUNUC each year and coordinates and runs Model United Nations at LFA. English teacher Lydia Wells and Director of the Library & Archivist Rita MacAyeal chaperone the trip and support students throughout their time at MUNUC. The club is open to all grades so some students have been competing in MUNUC throughout their entire high school career and some students competing this year were first year delegates.
Two-time delegate Liza Lewis ‘28 reflected on her experience at MUNUC this year, “My favorite part about MUN was getting to speak in front of groups of people and collaborating with other schools to form resolutions. Getting to go out of my comfort zone while doing something MUN introduces me to real world issues at a young age which I am incredibly grateful for.” Comparing her two years on the MUN team, Lewis explained, “As this is my second year in MUN, I knew much more of what was happening. My partner and I took charge in our committee by leading the blocs and eventually the resolution papers. I overall felt much more confident with my skills.”
MUNUC compacts a significant amount of debate and work into four long days. Lewis said, “At MUN, it varies by day. We normally have a three hour session in the morning followed by a break for lunch. Then, we’re back in the afternoon for a three or four hour committee session. The strenuous hours are to make sure that we have time to complete everything that is needed.” In sum, “ MUN has taught me that taking charge and emanating confidence is key; chairs look highly upon people that are attentive and giving it their all even when nervous. Although everyone gets anxious at some point during the conference, it is so important to continuously put yourself out there, and just see what happens.”
Three-time delegate Saathvika Narayan ‘26 has participated in MUNUC since her sophomore year at LFA. This year, Narayan’s favorite aspect of MUN “was the balance between committee sessions and time spent with friends. It was really exciting to explore the city with my friend, try new restaurants, go shopping, and walk around Chicago. The committee sessions were equally as interesting and fun because of meeting new, like-minded people and discussing/solving prominent issues with them.” Narayan also focused on developing her skills at MUNUC as it was her last MUN conference with LFA, “This year, I focused more on confidence and leadership rather than solely preparing myself with loads of information on my topic. I found it more successful to speak up and connect with others by building on my ideas and theirs, rather than sticking to a pre-made plan and keeping to myself.”
MUN teaches a variety of skills to students that can’t be taught in the classroom including “collaboration, confidence, and leadership,” according to Narayan. Utilizing these traits are important because “it is crucial to be adaptable and easy to work with; that way, more delegates want to support you and your work. Some of the most impactful moments happen outside of formal speeches – when everyone is quietly negotiating and compromising.”
Overall, LFA’s MUN team had another successful year at the nationally recognized University of Chicago conference. The team and its delegates all passed resolutions on their topics and carried out MUNUC’s mission of ‘collaboration and productive discourse.’ Students built their confidence as public speakers, critical thinkers, coherent communicators and globally-conscious leaders. Thanks to MUNUC, delegates from LFA learned how to become more active and informed leaders in their communities inside and out of high school.