Even though the world seems closer than ever because of social media, one junior plans to bring LZHS together through a Model UN that seems far from happening.

Danielle Fewkes, junior, said a lot of colleges as well area high schools have Model UNs, such as Mundelein and Stevenson, which prompted her to want to establish the club here.

“The fact that it provides students with an opportunity to discuss global issues from a new perspective,” is what prompted Fewkes to want to start the club, she said. “I think that lots of kids from our generation lose sight of the global community, and I think that is really important that kids are able to think globally instead of just within their community, and I really like that about Model UN.”

Her efforts have not been without struggle, however.

“The struggles I am running into right now are 1) getting it out there and 2) finding the money to make it happen,” Fewkes said. “I had talked to Mr. Rubenstein previously, and he had said that even if there were 100 kids interested, we still may not have the money to make this happen.”

Fewkes, however, is determined not to give up.

I have been looking into fundraising opportunities a little bit. I think that this is definitely something that will happen a little bit more next year because I’ve just recently got the approval for [the club],” she said.

Fewkes is aware that if there is no interest, then nothing else can proceed. She says that it is not easy to talk to the whole school body and tell them about what the club is like.

“It’s very research heavy because if you want to accurately portray an issue from the perspective of a country that you are not familiar with, you need to know about their culture, their history, their politics, their religion, because those all influence how they are going to look at an issue,” Fewkes said.  “So this is kind of involved, and if you are not willing to put in the research, you will not have very good results.”

Fewkes in interested in politics, and she hopes to find people who share similar interests.

“I think just being able to discuss these really important events in the world with people who also care about them. I think that if we could get to a conference that would be amazing,” said Fewkes. “I think this would be a great opportunity and it is something. I would like to try and do before I graduate.”