Mundelein students visit Chinese Consulate

Submitted by Mundelein High School District 120

Twenty Mundelein High School students met with Chinese diplomatic staff at the Chinese Consulate office in Chicago Feb. 6. The students represented China in the Model United Nations Conference run by the University of Chicago during that weekend, which was attended by about 2,500 high school students from throughout the world.

Chinese diplomatic staff gave briefings on a broad spectrum of issues, including environmental concerns, income inequality and China/U.S. relations. Mundelein students then were able to ask a range of questions, from how China views the current ISIS situation in Syria to opinions on how to reduce the income gap between urban and rural Chinese.

MHS senior Stephen Wald said, "It was so interesting to see these issues that we have studied through their eyes."

One of the Chinese diplomatic staff had just been reassigned from a post in the Middle East and was able to talk from firsthand experience about the complex dynamics of the Syrian situation.

"It was a fantastic opportunity for our students to meet with the Chinese consulate staff and to discuss these issues of global significance. They were so excited to then be able to use what they had learned at the Model United Nations conference activities over the weekend," Mundelein teacher Andy Hirshman said.

Sixty Mundelein High School students were a part of this year's UN delegation, making the MHS delegation one of the largest in the state.

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