~:[CH10 - Day 67]:~ Rise from the Ashes

 
~:[CH10 - Day 67]:~  Rise from the Ashes

Instead of enjoying the sunny weather of SoCal, I would be freezing on the busy streets of NYC around this time. Strangely, it's a bit warmer than normal there, but still, being there in person gives a completely different feel than normal. Sure, it definitely has a lot less stressful not having to watch over a group of students for a week, but there was so much that I wish I could show them and just hoping they get the chance in the future. Regardless despite the lack of that perk, this group of students worked just as hard as any other group, nobody dropped out, almost no assignments were late, and ultimately, they finished the conference with one of the best performances we have had at NHSMUN. From top to bottom, I saw them improve and grow, while through the process we connected, even in a virtual environment. This process solidified the idea that a situation is what you make of it. You can either hang your head and say what it is not or you can face it head on and see what you can do. While the world they knew had slowly crumbled, this group rose from those ashes and battled. The Zoom fatigue must have been real, but I think some of that disappeared as they debated with students from across the world. The conference was smaller this year than in year's past. With half of the group (session 1) being about 1,500 students from 126 schools from 41 different countries around the world. even a smaller conference still had an impressive array of representation, which the students enjoyed so much. We didn't get to celebrate in person, but I was glad to have been able to congratulate our students as we had a quick Zoom session before third period started. Despite all the challenges, these students rose from those ashes and walked away with two Awards of Distinction, honoring their research & preparation as well as their contributions to committee. After the four months of work they put in despite this pandemic without a single complaint (to me at least), these honors were definitely well deserve. Congratulations to this year's NHSMUN team, I am so proud of you and you definitely made the countries of Japan and South Africa proud! With a group of youth like this, I know that the future is bright as even when surrounded pile of ashes, instead of crumbling, they showed me there there is still hope and a reason why we all can celebrate.