Episode Transcript
[00:00:10] Speaker A: This is the owlcast, the official podcast of ACS Athens.
This is the student edition. Listen to the exciting story of the american community schools of Athens.
Check out what drives all the members of our international community of learners as we create the education of the future.
Here's John Papadakis.
[00:00:43] Speaker B: Welcome to the outcast. Today it's the student edition and we're talking about the fascinating world of model United nations or MuN. We are joined by a panel of young, bright student leaders who participated in the prestigious MUN conference recently held in the Hague. Known as Thymon, this is the second group of the team. Our guests share their unique insights, reflections and personal journeys during their time at Thymon, offering a glimpse into the transformative impact of this global education simulation as a school deep into the sustainable development goals mindset. It's always interesting and refreshing to see global issues through the eyes of the young international students. In our conversation, we explore the diverse benefits that students derive from participating in thymen. From honing diplomatic skills to fostering cultural exchange and developing leadership abilities and friendships, Thymon serves as a catalyst for personal and academic growth. Our guests highlight the invaluable experiences gained through engaging in intensive research, passionate debates and collaborative problem solving, all within the dynamic environment of international diplomacy. Moreover, we discuss the profound impact of Thymon beyond the conference walls. Our guests discuss how their participation has inspired them to pursue careers or further studies in fields like international relations, diplomacy, social justice and mechanical engineering. Through their stories, we aim to inspire and empower listeners to embrace the enriching opportunities offered by Mun, fostering a generation of global citizens equipped to tackle the challenges of our interconnected world. Join us as we embark on a journey of discovery and inspiration with these remarkable students who have dared to make a difference on the global stage. Joining us today in the studio is one of the two advisors of the Thiaman team, Angela Hamos Wakidis.
[00:02:57] Speaker C: Thank you for having us here. We're very excited to be here. This is the second team representing the delegations that went to Thyman 2024 in January. We were there from the 20 January to the 27th. We represented Cuba in Saudi Arabia. The advisors of the club are Ms. Evelyn Pitas and myself. And with us today, we have a great team of seven delegates and one judge. And just to put things into context for the period of the thymen conference, delegates are regarded as diplomats and ambassadors for their country and they are also representing their schools. And our delegates here did a great job representing ACs Athens during Thyman 2024. And with us today, we have Vageli, Eleni, Aristidi. Aristidi, Christo, Yanni, and Sophia.
[00:03:56] Speaker B: Welcome, everybody. This is the second group. As Ms. Moswakidi said, I guess we're going to have to take turns and everybody talks a little bit about the experience.
I assume that you are also part of the team of the other students we had the previous time. Correct. So let's see from your end, what was the most challenging thing that happened to you from the time that you said, I'm going to participate in this team to go to Thiamin.
[00:04:27] Speaker D: Okay. So in my opinion, or at least what I found most challenging, is finding good information so you can represent the country. And the second most hardest was cooperating with some people there because not a lot of people wanted to work as a team. So you really had to.
[00:04:43] Speaker B: Did you know from the beginning which countries you're going to represent?
[00:04:47] Speaker D: After two, three meetings, we found out.
[00:04:51] Speaker B: You go through tryouts, correct?
[00:04:53] Speaker C: We do.
[00:04:54] Speaker B: So in the tryouts, do you actually go for the role of the country you're going to represent, or is it something random?
[00:05:00] Speaker D: It's random. You, like, pick it out of.
[00:05:02] Speaker B: So what did you do in the tryouts?
[00:05:04] Speaker D: I had Sweden, I think, much different.
[00:05:07] Speaker B: Than Saudi Arabia and Cuba. Yeah.
[00:05:09] Speaker D: Now I had Cuba, but then I had Sweden.
[00:05:11] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:05:12] Speaker D: Very different.
[00:05:12] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:05:14] Speaker E: I also found, as she said, very hard to cooperate with another people. A lot of people the first few days thought I was joking with my accent, but I actually talked like this. But they were taking it as a joke. Like when I was doing the speeches, they kept on mocking me. They were sending me, like, notes saying, please take the accent off, and cooperating with some other people. They were hard to understand. They had good points, but at the same time, they didn't want to help each other.
[00:05:42] Speaker B: So that was a challenge for you?
[00:05:44] Speaker E: Yes.
[00:05:44] Speaker B: What about the actual role that you had? Was it challenging? What was your role?
[00:05:50] Speaker E: First of all, I was a Ga four. I was Cuba also. I mean, compared to last year because I also went to thymoon last year.
[00:05:56] Speaker B: So that was your second participation in thymoon?
[00:05:59] Speaker E: Yes. Last year I was an ambassador, so being a delegate was way simpler than being the ambassador. But at the same time, it has challenges of its own, because this time we were an actual country. Last year we were ong. So being a country is a bit different. Like, we actually get to vote. So it took a bit of adapting, but at the end of the year, I think I pulled it off great.
[00:06:21] Speaker F: This was my first Mun conference, and I think my biggest difficulty wasn't something specific. It was just adapting to the environment and understanding where I was and just looking at what's going on around me and the people that are surrounding me and trying to fit in and understand with experience how it works, how the voting works, how the resolutions work and everything.
[00:06:42] Speaker B: Talk to us about the environment. What was the thing that stood out?
[00:06:46] Speaker F: I think it was a very eye opening experience for me, especially at this young age. It was the first time that I'd stepped foot in an international, in any sort of international relations area, in an international court, as is the Hague. Even the actual rooms and the space, not the people, was very shocking to me. And it was something I've seen for the first time, this environment, cooperation, countries cooperating together, trying to find a common goal.
[00:07:14] Speaker B: Was it something you expected?
[00:07:16] Speaker F: To be honest, I didn't know what I expected exactly going into it. That's why I signed up originally. I wanted to experience something new, even though I didn't know what it was. I was open to any new experience, and I was left fulfilled, I think.
[00:07:27] Speaker B: When I left, what was your role?
[00:07:28] Speaker F: I was a Ga one delegate of Cuba for human rights. Human rights, okay. It's a committee. It has to do with human rights. The resolution which stood out to me the most was immigration in the Mediterranean. The migratory flow in the Mediterranean. I want to talk about. It was my first time in time yen as well. I was a part of the HR D one committee. It was a very fun few experience, especially during the process of lobbying. I was met with a lot of different diverse people, as I met people all around the globe that previously I had not met. So I met people from Saudi Arabia, which I really became very good friends.
[00:08:11] Speaker B: With actual representatives of Saudi Arabia. Okay.
[00:08:15] Speaker F: And while I was representing Saudi Arabia, they gave me some tips and something.
[00:08:20] Speaker B: What did you ask them when you met them first?
[00:08:23] Speaker F: I asked them, of course, what school they go to. And I also asked them about the Mediterranean. And as Vac said, what was their point of view from being an actual Saudi Arabia citizen for the mediterranean resolution?
[00:08:35] Speaker B: Were you surprised?
[00:08:36] Speaker F: No.
[00:08:37] Speaker B: It was something you expected? Yeah. From your preparation? Yeah. Okay, great.
[00:08:41] Speaker G: So I did ga four part of Saudi Arabia. The most interesting thing as my first timeun conference was.
[00:08:49] Speaker B: That was your first one?
[00:08:50] Speaker G: No, it was my fifth mun conference, but my first time.
[00:08:54] Speaker B: Ah, the first time. Okay. All right.
[00:08:56] Speaker G: And it was the weird. The structure and the lobbying and the resolutions, because in american timeun, it's done a bit differently. The process. What's the difference that you don't have that much time to lobby here or the previous ones? The previous ones. And here you had more time to socialize and understand the resolutions from your experience.
[00:09:18] Speaker B: From the four previous ones. What stood out for you other than more time to lobby?
[00:09:23] Speaker G: The amount of diversity across the stage. For example, in the old ones, it was more region specific, so you had more of one nationality, but here you have found every type.
[00:09:36] Speaker B: Okay, great.
[00:09:37] Speaker H: Hi. So for me, my process was kind of different than the other ones that have been mentioned. I was honored to be a member of the international criminal court, serving as a judge and an advocate. So the preparation process was much different. You have to basically structure an entire court case, as well as writing multiple large documents outlining the background of the case, the legal concepts, any stipulations, and pieces of evidence that you need to bring. It was this is my first diamond and second Mun conference overall. So it was, in general, just a new experience, but also one that I'm very thankful.
[00:10:17] Speaker B: Did you do the previous one the same role, or were you a delegate in the previous one?
[00:10:21] Speaker H: No, in the previous one I served as a delegate. This was my first time serving in any court position.
[00:10:27] Speaker B: Okay. Was it easier or harder?
[00:10:29] Speaker H: What I really liked is that it's a much smaller committee. In other committees, such as the ones presented before, there are like 100 or so people in each room. But for us, we were, I think, in total, 16, because we have to apply and we get selected. So it was a much more concentrated discussion, and I think it worked very well for me, at least, because I was able to kind of allow myself to participate and not have to compete constantly.
[00:10:59] Speaker B: Okay, so who did you represent?
[00:11:02] Speaker I: I represented Cuba.
[00:11:03] Speaker B: Cuba, okay. And this is the country that you tried out?
[00:11:09] Speaker I: No, I tried out for Thailand.
[00:11:11] Speaker B: Thailand?
[00:11:12] Speaker I: Yeah.
[00:11:12] Speaker B: Not very similar.
[00:11:14] Speaker I: No, completely different.
[00:11:15] Speaker B: And that was your first?
[00:11:17] Speaker I: No, this is actually my second Mun conference.
[00:11:20] Speaker B: Second mun. But the first time in.
[00:11:22] Speaker I: Yeah, the first time in.
[00:11:23] Speaker B: Okay. So what was your experience? What surprised you initially?
[00:11:27] Speaker I: Just walking inside the whole institution.
It was wonderful. All the rooms were named with different continents. It was with rivers all over the world.
It was really enlightening. And you just walk around and it's flooded with diversity. There's so many people from outside of Europe, and you get to meet so many friendly people that you get to connect with and you can keep in contact. Just. It's an amazing experience.
[00:11:57] Speaker B: Did you meet anybody from Cuba?
[00:11:59] Speaker I: No, but I did meet people from Panama.
[00:12:03] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:12:04] Speaker I: Yeah.
[00:12:04] Speaker B: Which is from the same region?
[00:12:05] Speaker I: Yes.
[00:12:06] Speaker B: Did you get to discuss with them what you're all about in your role.
[00:12:11] Speaker I: Yeah, we had some conversations. We had lunch.
[00:12:14] Speaker B: Great. So let's go to the actual action that you did while you were in thyman. So take turns and talk to me a little bit about what kind of resolutions you introduced, what kind of actions you took, something that was particularly important to you, because I assume that you did your homework, your research, you had some issues in your mind. Right?
[00:12:41] Speaker F: While it was my first time, I wasn't very comfortable with the situation, so I didn't bring any new resolutions to the table. I think we were in a very unique position, the ones that represented Cuba as it is a one state communist party. So we always have to keep in mind the benefits of the state and the benefits of a communistic government. So I think every time we were to vote for something to pass, it was interesting to keep in mind what would Cuba actually want, what would a country that is ruled by communism actually want and what would benefit it. So a lot of issues, they were dictated, our vote was dictated by this need.
[00:13:16] Speaker B: Okay. How did you keep up with what you thought Cuba would actually do?
[00:13:22] Speaker F: While people were presenting their points and their pois and their opposing statements, I was researching what Cuba, basically the relationship between Cuba and the issue. And if there was no relationship, I was trying to use my critical thinking to think if there was a country that is communistic and is involved in this issue, what would they want? And I think that is where ethymian encourages critical thinking and thinking outside the box.
[00:13:47] Speaker B: I'm sure that before you go there, you had some ideas about what Cuba is all about and what they do. Did anything surprise you from what you.
[00:13:56] Speaker F: I researched the political history of Cuba prior and how they ended up after the american spanish wars, how they ended up in the position that they're in today. And I think coming away from the conference, I don't think I deducted that many things from Cuba itself, more than the entirety of the world and how it works and how it functions, which.
[00:14:15] Speaker B: Is the point from these kind of organizations.
[00:14:17] Speaker D: Okay, so I was also Cuba, I was HRC two, which is the Human Rights committee. And one of our topics was the use of torture and violence for prisoners. And as vague said, I researched a lot for Cuba and I found that it was not hard, but it promote critical thinking. Because sometimes if you as a person believe that this should be passed, you need to kind of over surpass that and be like, yeah, but Cuba doesn't support that. So it kind know made you think a lot about what you should pass and what you should not and what is right.
[00:14:54] Speaker B: So if you actually met someone from Cuba right now, do you think you're more capable to defend your position or know counter their arguments?
[00:15:05] Speaker D: I feel like, to a certain extent, from the research I have done, I can see their point. So I could make points that they would understand or somehow build my case so they could agree or disagree.
[00:15:17] Speaker B: Great. Yeah, great.
[00:15:19] Speaker F: And for example, for me, that was representing Saudi Arabia, it was very. Also important, critical thinking of thinking, the geographical location of the country, as it is very important for not only many resolutions, but we also need to research about the relationships and friends that the country have. So you could have. When we were doing law being, it was very important to get some of your allies together so you're able to create a resolution that everybody stands upon. Well, for example, some of the lobbying we were seeing some very weird combinations that weren't exactly keeping track of the allies that each country have.
[00:16:01] Speaker B: So you were involved in team building.
[00:16:03] Speaker F: Yeah, of course. During the.
[00:16:05] Speaker B: And looking for alliances.
[00:16:06] Speaker F: Yeah, of course.
[00:16:07] Speaker B: Okay, keep that. I have a question for that. Yes.
[00:16:10] Speaker E: I mean, what Sophia said. Very true. Like, being Cuba requires a lot of critical thinking. Also, in the alliances, like, pretty much, you are stuck with whatever Russia or China does. Like, you don't have a choice but to follow them.
[00:16:24] Speaker B: Why do you think that is?
[00:16:25] Speaker E: Because that's pretty much Cuba's foreign policy.
[00:16:28] Speaker B: So they are the closest allies.
[00:16:29] Speaker E: They're closest allies because they depend on them. Like, in my class in IB history, we follow how Cuba became an authoritarian state.
[00:16:38] Speaker B: Since when? I mean, do you have a benchmark in your history timeline?
[00:16:43] Speaker E: Our history goes. Covers from 1960 to 2006, when Fidel Castro doesn't die, retires. We see, like, how Cuba goes, because to this day, from 2006 to now is not that much. 617 years, 18 years. Cuba hasn't changed that much. Its foreign policy from before us, it was allied mostly with the Soviet Union, and now they're allied with Russia and China and Venezuela, which are like their communist partners.
[00:17:09] Speaker B: So, from what you did with your involvement in the team, do you think that now your perspective of the country is a little bit different, the same, or was it confirmed?
[00:17:19] Speaker E: I mean, it's a bit different, because at the same time, through they have these alliances, Cuba also has their own vision of what the world should look like. Yeah, North America has a power, but not any power. Like, every country should have their own will, which before I didn't thought. They always thought they were only anti american.
[00:17:39] Speaker G: Okay. So in Ga four, the main thing, one of the resolutions was about the ukrainian war going on right now, and yet to figure out resolutions. And one of the main parts was whenever someone proposed a resolution to think diplomatically and not through your own intentions about what would your country think about the resolution and how would they vote against or for it.
[00:18:11] Speaker A: You are listening to the owlcast, the official podcast of ACS Athens.
[00:18:24] Speaker B: Thinking about your interactions with others, either in your group or with others. Is it something that stayed with you?
[00:18:32] Speaker G: Yeah, because the rest of the MVN conference was a bit similar, but also talking to the new. But this section was a bit new to me and it kind of stayed with me until now.
[00:18:43] Speaker H: For me, the actual kind of conference in and of itself wasn't things like lobbying or resolution writing more. So it being actually presenting your case and arguing this thing that you spent months working on, just kind of all coming in on itself and waiting to see if it's good enough or you've properly expected or thought out of the opposition's kind of arguments and everything like that. So I felt like it was something I felt comfortable with because I had prepared a lot and I do have some court experience, but it was also something that was really new and just kind of different because it's a whole nother process than what is kind of expected from a delegate or anything like that.
[00:19:30] Speaker B: I assume that before and after you have worked and studied or researched what you were doing in the time, and do you find yourself more prone to go to the news or to actually follow a story close to what you did in thyman?
[00:19:49] Speaker H: Yeah, kind of.
I love law and the history of law, looking at kind of old court cases and studying them for myself and making my own judgment of what I think could have happened. And in general, things like politics and that do interest me. And I do feel like all of that is really interesting. So if a topic does interest me like this, I will kind of look into it in the news or read articles or things like that to expand my view and my horizons.
[00:20:18] Speaker B: Excellent.
[00:20:18] Speaker I: During this immersive experience, I got to submit an amendment of the first degree, and I also followed a second degree amendment.
[00:20:26] Speaker B: And what was the amendment about?
[00:20:28] Speaker I: So you may know that Cuba is affected by drool a lot. I was in the sustainable development committee, so I had to ensure that Cuba's needs were met.
[00:20:37] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:20:38] Speaker I: Yeah. Environmentally wise. So I made an amendment, a first degree amendment.
[00:20:42] Speaker B: You introduced it or your team?
[00:20:45] Speaker I: No, you can submit amendments as a delegate?
[00:20:47] Speaker B: As a delegate. So individual on the resolution.
[00:20:51] Speaker I: And I submitted an amendment for standard precipitation indexes.
[00:20:56] Speaker B: Okay. Did it pass?
[00:20:58] Speaker I: Yeah. So we got to add to the resolution because we were combating jolt, but we didn't exactly rank countries to see which ones need the immediate attention. So that's why the precipitation indexes were valuable, and we used them to measure the ph levels of soil, the climate, the temperatures around to ensure that the area is affected.
[00:21:24] Speaker B: Well, I assume from this process, and I think goes to whoever wants to answer this, from this process, you learned or you upgraded your skills of working with others, having meaningful discussions. You do that here in the school, too, correct?
[00:21:40] Speaker H: Definitely.
[00:21:40] Speaker B: In your classrooms, in different projects.
Do you think that from what you did there, you brought back skills that you didn't have before, or you just made it easier for you?
[00:21:52] Speaker D: I can answer this. I feel like the fact that we didn't know people there kind of promoted us to speak and be more open. And because we did speak to people that we're not used to seeing every day, it probably helps talking to people we see every day, so it makes us more comfortable. There may be people in my class that I have never spoken to or will never speak to, but now I'm more tempted to go speak and be more open because of experiencing mu.
[00:22:17] Speaker B: So, public speaking skills and social skills, right?
[00:22:21] Speaker D: Yeah, it kind of builds your confidence, too, because from all the research and everything that you've worked on, it's kind of nice to go up and speak and be open.
[00:22:28] Speaker B: How about argument skills?
[00:22:30] Speaker F: Yeah, that was very important, like trying to argue your way at your position as a country. It also helped you. The whole mun process also helped you with your researching skills, having a good format, like a good research questions and everything.
It was very helpful. Zardo.
[00:22:50] Speaker I: Okay, so we left. Going to climb in, and we had no idea what to expect.
[00:22:55] Speaker B: Did you say you left or you left?
[00:22:57] Speaker I: We left.
[00:22:58] Speaker B: You left to go.
[00:22:59] Speaker I: Yeah. And we came back, and everything was so much different. When we came back, we were filled with experience, and we just had. It's like it provided a plethora of opportunities, and we were able to kind of discover our potential more than students, but, like, as individuals, as delegates, and we were able to carry that through and see how much the experiences really changed us. We socialized, we experienced so much with our team. We traveled so much. It was truly.
[00:23:30] Speaker D: Yeah, I also want to add to that, besides diamond, too. I feel like the nightlife and generally just being there was very nice. And from the Mun group, there were some people, like January over here that I've never spoken to, or other people, most of them. And now, we're very good friends because of mun, and I really enjoy their company, and I've learned to be more.
[00:23:53] Speaker F: Open and, like more people can add.
[00:23:57] Speaker G: I think that mun also was a different experience for each person, as each person had a different time in their delegations or after the conferences. So I think it was an eye opening experience for most people.
[00:24:10] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:24:12] Speaker H: Going back to what Sophia had said in the beginning of this question, I feel like it also helped develop a lot of communication skills with people you don't know, for instance, whether you're like a chair or an advocate or something like that. You have to work with these people from all around the world that you don't know and have them work with you to either write a study guide, a legal memoir, or anything like that. And first and foremost, the communication that goes into that, it does take a lot of work, and I feel like anyone who is put in that position does greatly expound upon their skills in that area. But also, just in general, being able to communicate with people, telling them, assigning them parts, and getting that kind of leadership experience in is very helpful.
[00:24:59] Speaker I: Also, it acted as like a catalyst to truly becoming a delegate, because the first time I went to Psmun, I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't know what was going on. And it was a lot of diplomatic jargon just being thrown around everywhere. But at thymen, we got to truly embrace that side of diplomacy.
[00:25:22] Speaker B: Well, it's one of the highest level of organizations for that particular one. So if you think your classmates, your friends in the school that haven't been involved in this kind of activity, what would you tell them? Very briefly, what would you tell them to convince them to go and become a member of this team and go out? And it takes a lot of courage to put yourself out and have an argument and actually go and defend that argument, even if you don't really know the. I mean, it's obvious you don't know the whole story. Okay. You have to research. You have to talk. So what would you say to your classmates to convince them for next year to be part of the thymoon team?
[00:26:11] Speaker D: Yeah, I'd say if you're interested in such a thing and you're contemplating on doing it or not do it, because it's a very good experience and it's going to heighten skills that you're not very good at. So I'd say do it because I was very nervous to do it and I was contemplating not coming, but it was probably a very good experience.
[00:26:31] Speaker B: I cannot imagine you being nervous.
[00:26:33] Speaker F: Yeah, I'm very okay, I'd say. I agree. I think you should just look at it as an experience. I mean, it's available to you. You're lucky enough to have this opportunity to go. So I think it's a waste of an opportunity to say, I'm not too sure of myself. I'm unsure. I don't know what arguments I'm going to make. You can go. You can see maybe it doesn't always work, but you're still learning from it and you're having a good time. You're meeting new people. It's overall a good experience.
[00:27:00] Speaker B: Great.
[00:27:01] Speaker F: And also, especially the child, also helps you prepare a bit for Fu and see how it is in general.
The child is a very good opportunity to challenge yourself not only with the letter, but also getting a good speech that will intrigue many people.
[00:27:20] Speaker E: And also I'll tell them it's a life changing experience. It prepares you for college.
[00:27:25] Speaker B: Life changing. Oh, my goodness, that's heavy. Okay.
[00:27:29] Speaker E: It prepares you for college because in college, you're going to go there the first day. If you are lucky, you are going to have like, one, two friends, you know, from before. But then there's thousands of people you don't know, and here is the same, but here actually, you get the advantage. You are going in a common topic, like all of you are going to debate.
[00:27:45] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:27:45] Speaker E: Might be not the same committee, but you are going to debate. So it helps you to transition towards the future and also not only in like between the school, like what Sophia was saying before, almost like I knew Yanni from my grade, but almost all of them I didn't knew them. And now we're friends after the trip because we became close over there for both outside the school and inside school, it's a very good experience to get to know people and how to adapt.
[00:28:14] Speaker H: I think that even besides the school point, doing mun, and not even just time in mun in general does give you very strong skills that you do need regardless of where your future is headed or what you want to do with your life. Skills like communication, how to correctly argue your point, how to research all of that are necessary for you, regardless of what field you're so. And just having this, like thymin, as Eleni did say, does catalyze your experience. And it does kind of make you understand how it works and how to do it at a level that is above kind of exceptional into a whole different kind of echelon also.
[00:28:57] Speaker G: Otherwise, just the traveling experience itself going to the World Economic forum for the first time. And the sheer vastness and its greatness just comes at you. And also the amount of different actual un delegates that are there and that you can speak.
[00:29:16] Speaker I: Most people that I know usually want to do mun because it would look good in a university application, but it's so much more than that. And just the opportunity of meeting so many people and going to Simon is the second most, like the biggest conference in the world. First of all, being, well, I think it's kind of tied, but there's also one in Singapore and there's one in the Hague. So it's just an amazing opportunity that you can't miss. Like, you should try. Even if you fail, you tried. You should open yourself up to just, it embraces you. It helps you learn in a way that you wouldn't think about learning, for example. It just helps you become knowledgeable about a wide range of topics that you would never expect yourself to know about.
[00:30:05] Speaker B: It's a good field trip opportunity.
So, Ms. Amosakiris, let's wrap it up. Your role, also as one of the advisors of the group, what do you think was the biggest takeaway from this particular experience with this team?
[00:30:28] Speaker C: Well, I think that what Thyman kind of has as a mission there on their website, that it is to promote and foster collaborative, solution oriented discussion for important global issues by instilling a lifelong passion in youth to take an engaging role in the future and to become more responsible global citizens. Is that what is being achieved every time we go there? And I couldn't be happier to see them grow every time, not only as delegates or as students, but as human beings. And I think that's my biggest takeaway, that this trip is worth so much because of that. And not only the thymen role that each of them has there. And we're both very proud of them for their positions and for their preparation and for their stance in general when they were there. And now that they're back, and we also feel very much connected to them in a different way after being on the trip.
[00:31:34] Speaker B: I think that the whole idea of having two groups that were competing, who was going to come to talk about this experience tells a story. And I think these are the best representatives we've had for years. So great job, everybody, and thank you for being here, and we're looking forward for next year.
[00:31:58] Speaker C: Thank you for having us.
[00:32:00] Speaker B: Thank you, guys.
[00:32:03] Speaker A: You are listening to the Owlcast, the official podcast of ACS Athens. Make sure you subscribe to the Allcast on Google Podcasts Spotify and Apple Podcasts. This has been a production of the ACS Athens Media studio.
