“Politician” isn’t everyone’s first choice as a career move, but for three of our Year 10 students this was their “job” for two days earlier this term.

Elleahnora Lochead, Quinn Ledgerwood-Gee and Nicolette Sanson from 10SD, along with their Social Sciences teacher Lizzie MacDonald attended the 2017 Model European Union (EU) event on the 7th and 8th of September at the University of Canterbury (UC). Organised by the National Centre for Research on Europe, this was the seventh year that these Model EUs have been held at UC, and the theme this year was very topical: UNDECIDED – EU and US relations after Trump.

Over 200 high school students met together to model the decision-making procedure of the EU. Each student was given a country and a political party whose views and policies they were negotiating for in an allocated committee. This process allowed students to gain an insight as to the difficulties involved in the decision-making process at the highest EU level and how European issues relate back to New Zealand. It was also an excellent opportunity to network, meet students from different schools in the region and to have a look at a potential place to carry on tertiary studies.

Quinn said, “I really enjoyed it, the debating and being with people who knew about current topical political issues. It was great to meet with new people and I really liked being in the UC environment. Even if you don’t know much about politics, give it a go – you’ll be amazed at what you will learn.” Nic and Elleahnora both agreed that: “It was pretty challenging, like a steep learning curve, but the people were really helpful and it was a good experience to ‘up’ your confidence. It made you really appreciate the skills needed when arguing a case from a point of view that you might not necessarily personally agree with. Plus it made you really think about your own views on these issues.” All three Hagley delegates loved the food and enjoyed the ‘pomp and ceremony’ of how everything was done, especially having to address each other in the debates as ‘honourable delegate’.

Lizzie described it as a “fabulous event” for the students, where they learnt an enormous lot about the decision-making process in government. Plans are already being made for the 2018 Model EU so keep an eye on the notices next year – if you love debating political issues this is an opportunity not to be missed!